


Debugging

by PotatoMash



Category: Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Happy, Lighthearted, Seulrene, Wheesa - Freeform, blackpink - Freeform, blackpink side characters, jensoo, joyri - Freeform, loosely based on irenes game development girls, mamamoo - Freeform, mamamoo side characters, moonsun, redvelvet, some gdg characters are here too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2019-08-10 22:20:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 29,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16463447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PotatoMash/pseuds/PotatoMash
Summary: Irene is a game developer struggling to analyze what everything meant. Seulgi is a barista who thought she knew it all.Very loosely based on the web drama Game Development Girls.





	1. Error 404 - Brain Not Found

**Author's Note:**

> This work is mostly self indulgent and me just wanting to write about the field I’m majoring in, and an attempt to forget about the plot of that show since tbh I thought it was just all over the place lmao. (The game development aspects were very relateable tho HAHAHA) Not that this is any better though, since it’ll just be a fluff fest from here on out :’)
> 
> This was originally supposed to be a oneshot but ideas hit me and oh no this'll probably be a three part thing, but let's see where this goes haha

Not a lot happened in Irene’s life. She was just a game developer by day, and a geek… all day, she supposed. She loved her job, especially since everyone around her raved about the same things and wouldn’t judge her for it— unlike in high school where everyone found it either strange or too good to be true for a girl to be into games, anime, and the like. Honestly, being able to land a job in the industry she’s always yearned for has been a dream come true, even if she only works for a small studio.

 

It was more than enough.

 

It was more than enough until their team leader, Moonbyul, had announced in the midst of their team rushing a huge project that the office’s A/C had broken down.

 

Even worse the A/C was centralized, which mean that the office would be as hot as hell during  _ summer _ , of all seasons, and their PCs were left to die in the heat with them if they attempted to use them without air conditioning.

 

They may as well just say goodbye to their project.

 

Great. Just great.

 

However, their leader had kindly asked the café owner from across the street if their team could work in the café temporarily while the necessary repairs were being made at the office. The team of five were flabbergasted, wondering how on earth Moonbyul got their producer to even agree to this given the possible cost of doing such a thing.

 

That is until Moonbyul admitted that the owner of the café was none other than her wife, Solar. This gave them a discounted rate and a place to stay— as long as they didn’t cause trouble.

 

This was all fine with Irene until she had met eyes with probably the most gorgeous human she’d ever seen.

 

Irene had to blink again to make sure that she wasn’t just conjuring one of her anime waifus into 3D space.

 

The ethereal figure seemed very much real, and seemed to be looking at her as well. The brown, cat-like eyes reeled Irene in, and she was pretty sure she had died and ascended to heaven when those eyes upturned into adorable crescents.

 

She was an angel.

 

The developer was staring so much that she didn’t realize she was doing so until the angel suddenly disappeared, and a loud crash could be heard.

 

“Seul! Watch where you’re going!” Solar practically screeched as she helped the angel stand up. Dusting herself off, the angel muttered a string of apologies as she helped clean up the mess. The older woman retrieved the fallen items, and had disappeared into the kitchen to return them.

 

“Sorry, sorry… It’s just,” The angel, apparently called ‘Seul’ sighed loudly as her eyes met Irene’s once more. She didn’t even realize that the person she was talking to had left.

  
“Are you even real?” She asked, her gaze filled with awe as her jaw hung open. When Irene realized that the angel had been referring to her, the developer had immediately turned a deep shade of crimson.

 

“Oh no, not you too Seulbear!” Moonbyul suddenly gasped, sliding towards Irene. The team leader’s face was of pure shock. Seul looked dumbfounded.

 

“Wha..?”

 

“You see her too! It’s not just me!” Moonbyul exclaimed, and Seul’s eyes shot wide open.

 

“You see this bewitching woman here is none other than the Goddess Irene, The Goddess of Peace! If you don’t get on your knees this instant, you will forever be troubled, fighting an inner battle of—!” Before the team leader could even finish, Seul was suddenly in front of Irene, and was down on her knees.

  
  


Irene.exe had stopped responding.

 

That is, until a loud scream echoed, the three women startled back into their senses.

 

“Moon Byul Yi!” A very angry Solar stomped towards Moonbyul, pulling on the angel’s arms so that she could get up.

 

“Stop tricking Seulgi like that! It’s not funny,” Solar held Seulgi close, akin to a mother holding her child protective against harm. Seulgi played along and nodded, hiding her face in the embrace.

 

Irene couldn’t understand how an actual human being could be so adorable.

 

“Pfft, you have to admit it was a bit funny,” Moonbyul said with a grin, nudging Irene. “Right?”

 

The developer had completely come back to her senses.

 

“Team leader,” She started, her eyes dead serious, “We have a project due soon and we can’t waste anymore time, remember?” Irene said, adjusting her glasses as she did. The developer might’ve heard Seulgi mutter ‘cute,’ at that, but she wasn’t so sure.

 

“Oh alright, fine! But before you go back to work, lemme just introduce you guys since you’ll have to get used to seeing each other after all. I wouldn’t want my best dev to just stare at Seulbear instead of developing what could be the next game of the year, right?” Moonbyul teased, as Irene’s face had quickly turned red. Trying and failing to hide her blush, the developer heard a cute giggle.

 

And of course the cute giggle had to come from the angel.

 

Irene reddened even more, and tried to bury herself into her oversized sweater.

 

Solar and Moonbyul could only grin amusedly at the two.

 

“Anyway, Seulbear, this is Irene, the only person besides me keeping this team together,” At that, a loud “Hey!” could be heard not so far away. 

 

“Kim Yerim,” Irene said plainly without looking back, and immediately the loud girl had quieted down. Moonbyul chuckled at that, and Solar continued the introduction.

 

“And Irene, this is Seulgi, my pure child. She only knows how to make drinks and pastries as sweet as herself, so if you want something bitter you’ll have to go to Sooyoung,” Solar smiled as she heard her employee shout “Don’t call me that!” from the back.

 

“Actually,” Seulgi suddenly started, detaching herself from Solar’s embrace. She stepped forward and extended her hand towards the developer with a bright smile on her face.

 

“I’m Seulgi, but you can call me yours.”   
  


…

..

.

 

With that, Irene whirled around and headed back to where she left her laptop. Plopping down on the plush seat, she started to type mechanically.

 

From the short distance she had travelled, Irene could hear the trio conversing.

 

“Seulgi, I told you not to follow whatever Moonbyul teaches you!” Solar tried to quietly scream. “Look what you’ve done!” The older woman pulled on Moonbyul’s collar, practically choking her wife in the process.

 

“What, no! I didn’t—” 

 

“Did I… scare her away?” An innocent voice asked. Irene wanted to slam her face into her keyboard for being such an idiot.

 

Irene was just weak for girls, especially very cute girls such as Seulgi. The developer didn’t even know girls like her existed in the real world until today.

 

Yup, she was today years old. 

 

Definitely. 

 

Absolutely.

 

Wait... Was there a bug in the system? That could be the only explanation.

 

“Oh honey no!” Solar suddenly screeched, jolting Irene back into the real world as the woman pulled Seulgi into a tight embrace.

 

“Irene’s just shy, okay? She’ll come around, just uh, be more gentle with her?” Moonbyul looked to the barista who nodded eagerly.

 

“Anyway,” The team leader cleared her throat and whirled around. “Devs, can I see the latest stable build?” She confidently said into the café. Irene could see that Moonbyul wanted to take advantage of the space while it was still closed to the public.

 

“It should be with Gaebal-ssi,” Irene said briefly as her eyes scanned through the code she had just written.

 

“Well, I uh,” Gaebal mumbled out. Moonbyul raised a brow.

 

“Well?”

 

“I-I accidentally overwrote the latest stable build and now its…um, buggy. T-there’s a lot of blockers, too...” The newbie tried to explain himself, hanging his head low. Irene sent a swift glare at his direction, sending chills down Gaebal’s spine.

 

“Then just modify the previous stable version,” Moonbyul said, her patience thinning.

 

“Control + Z!” Yeri yelled. Irene double checked the server before speaking up.

 

“It doesn’t work that way, Yerim. Team leader, the previous version will push us back too far,” Irene said and sighed before continuing.

 

“Then what do you plan to do?” Moonbyul questioned.

 

“I’ll fix the bugs,” The developer accepted her fate.

 

“You’re so cool, Irene-ssi! Thank you so much!” Gaebal bowed, his head slamming into the keyboard as he did. Irene simply continued to type rapidly.

 

“Great! I want to see that build up and running with the new features integrated by the end of this week, okay? Marshmell and Yeri, I need the character animations to be complete today,” Moonbyul said and started walking towards the exit. “I have a fight to pick with our producer, but I’ll be back,” The team leader said as she rolled up her sleeves and put on a pair of sunglasses.

 

“Fighting!” Marshmell raised her fist, watching Moonbyul leave the café.

 

Irene’s laptop continued to blare red lines at her face, her efforts fruitless.

 

She was going to have one hell of a week.

 

* * *

 

 

“Why is this café so open and bright... Ugh,” Yeri whined as she rested her head on top of her drawing tablet. 

 

It was their second day to be at the café, but their first to actually be working there, as they were busy moving some of their equipment over previously. Of course they didn’t bring in their giant workstations as that wouldn’t fit, but they did have to bring the essentials. The essentials mostly being extension cords that snaked around the café. They were heavily taped to the ground, and Irene silently prayed that no one would trip over them. Moonbyul had agreed that their team would be taking up the two booths near the counter, as it provided them the most privacy and also the most plugs within the vicinity. 

 

The artists, Marshmell and Yeri had to bring more equipment than the developers as they needed their drawing tablets, sketchbooks, references and camera to go with their laptops. Irene and Gaebal, the developers of the team only really needed their laptops…. and their sanity intact.

 

“Hey, at least we know what time it is!” Marshmell, the senior artist beamed back at Yeri the strange light-up hat atop her head bouncing as she nodded.

 

“We’re game developers, we are creatures of the  _ night! _ I mean, just look at them!” The young artist gestured to Gaebal and Irene, who both looked like the sun was draining the life out of their skin.

 

“They’re both just pale! I mean, have you ever seen them go out?” Marshmell said as she looked on, watching the two developers type at an inhuman speed.

 

“But Irene unnie is literally #FFFFFF now!” Yeri commented, pointing directly at their senior developer.

 

“Oh, you’re right! Irene, you need a health potion and a break, stat!” Marshmell said, her right hand twirling her pen around as she slammed her free hand onto the table. Irene shook her head in response.

 

“It’s the bugs…” Gaebal glanced at his senior’s screen sadly, until Irene noticed the sudden change in his expression. She sighed internally, already expecting his next words.

 

“I’ll help you catch the bugs—”

 

“Work on developing the user interface, Gaebal-ssi,” Irene cut him off. As much as she appreciated the offer, it would do them no good to waste the whole day fixing bugs.

 

“Okay…” He seemed to have accepted his fate, focusing his gaze on the computer screen. 

 

Not a moment later, a carrot cake and a drink was presented right in front of Irene. The developer hadn’t noticed the approaching footsteps nor the scent of the food earlier due to her concentration. She furrowed her brows and turned her gaze to the side.

 

“Hey… I don’t have any health potions on me, but I think this’ll do just fine, don’t you think?” Seulgi said with an angelic smile.

 

The developer, much like her buggy program returned null. She didn’t have a response to that. 

 

At all. 

 

Her brain was drawing a blank.

 

Irene continued to stare at Seulgi, the more adorable than average human tilting her head cutely. The developer could hear loud slapping and high pitched squeals from the side, but she was too stunned to do anything about whatever Kim Yerim was up to at the moment.

 

“Um, do you not like carrot cake or the latte? I could switch it out for something else, if you’d like,” The barista asked, biting her lip.

 

Irene had almost forgotten that it was her cue to respond.

 

“N-no, it’s fine. Thank you, um...yours?” She tried to answer coherently.

 

Across the room, the developer could see liquid soaring through the sky as Yeri choked and coughed from her peripheral. Marshmell seemed to be in tears. Gaebal was nowhere to be found.

 

Irene could also see that the tips of Seulgi’s ears were red.

 

Did she say something wrong?

 

Seulgi  _ did _ say to call her—

 

“Y-you actually didn’t have to call me that, um, I-I was just joking,” The barista cleared her throat, and the developer’s eyes widened, finally realizing her mistake.

 

Damn, her brain was as buggy as her code.

 

“Well, uh, I hope you enjoy the food, Irene-ssi! D-don’t worry about the pay— it’s on me,” With that, Seulgi the literal angel had fled the scene with a dopey grin on her face.

 

“GGWP,” Yeri commented loudly, wickedly grinning and pointing finger guns at the senior developer.

 

“Woah, you got free food? If I didn’t know any better, it was like she was flirting with you. But she’s a girl too so, I guess she just wants to be friends,” Gaebal suddenly arrived, his figure replacing the angel’s.

  
Irene rubbed her temples.

 

“You don’t,” She muttered, sighing as she got back to work.

 

“Did you say something, Irene-ssi?” The newbie asked.

 

“User. Interface.” Irene’s keystrokes had become louder. Gaebal quickly shuffled to his seat.

 

“Yes ma’am,”


	2. Irene(2).exe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seulgi was never fond of mornings.
> 
> Until today, that is.

Seulgi was never fond of mornings, but she didn’t have much of a choice as Wheein had an important appointment to go to and no one else could cover her shift, so she had to step up and do it. Waking up at 7 AM and opening shop, she realized once more, was never a good feeling if she were to be honest. She needed coffee as much as their early customers did or else she’d be a grizzly bear, and not a teddy bear, as Joy had told her before.

Although, Seulgi supposed, it wasn’t that bad as she was able to see and talk to Hwasa again as their schedules usually clashed. Along with Seulgi, however, Joy had also woken up early since they were shortstaffed at the moment.

“You seem happier these days, Seul. Did something happen?” Hwasa asked as she moved around, checking if anything needed to be refilled. Before the barista could respond, Joy had answered first.

“Our little Seulbear is head over heels for a certain someone,” Joy teased as she pinched Seulgi’s cheek. The latter could only roll her eyes.

“Oh?” Hwasa turned around. “Who is it?’

“I’m still older than you, Joy,” Seulgi pouted at the fact that she had to tilt her head up to look Joy in the eye. “You just happen to be really tall,” She continued.

“Not really, you just happen to be  _ really _ short,” Joy smirked as she pat Seulgi’s head.

“I’m fun-sized!” Seulgi argued, but it had fallen on deaf ears.

“Anyway, have you met Byul’s team yet?” Joy asked Hwasa.

“I’ve only met Gaebal-ssi so far, I don’t think the rest arrive early enough for me to catch them,” Unlike Seulgi and Joy, Hwasa’s work hours were much shorter due to her only working part time as the latter was still a student.

“Ah, you haven’t met the goddess yet,” Joy commented. Hwasa raised a brow.

“Goddess? I’m the only goddess here,” Hwasa said with an air of confidence. Seulgi chuckled at that.

“How do you even have that much confidence to say that?” The bear like girl shook her head.

“Well have you seen how Wheeinie looks at her, Seulgi? I think you’d feel  _ very _ confident if you had someone looking at you like that,” Joy teased, nudging Hwasa whose cheeks had turned the slightest shade of pink.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Hwasa said, dodging the topic. “So is this ‘goddess’ the girl unnie’s head over heels for?” She asked instead.

Joy and Seulgi simply nodded, the latter’s cheeks turning a shade of red as she did.

“She’s whipped,” Hwasa said, recognizing the look in Seulgi’s eyes.

“...and daydreaming, again,” Joy added, crossing her arms as she looked at her best friend’s eyes glazed over with admiration for the girl.

“Do you think she likes me too?” Seulgi asked, tilting her head cutely as her mind replayed her first interaction with Irene. Joy could only sigh and pinch her cheeks.

“Who  _ wouldn’t _ like you?” Joy asked, and a grin broke into Seulgi’s features. “Except when you pulled that cheesy line. Please don’t do that again,” The younger quickly added. Seulgi pouted at that. The bear-like girl didn’t think it was that bad.

“What did she say?” Hwasa’s curiosity was piqued.

“Do you really want to hear it? It’s one of Byul unnie’s lines,” Joy said as she reached for an apron.

‘Nevermind,” Hwasa shook her head and looked at her the time. She then nudged Joy, and pointed at her wristwatch. The latter headed to the back, preparing the pastries.

“Hey! I think she liked—” Seulgi tried to rebut as she turned to face the counter, noticing that someone had entered and had suddenly stopped mid sentence.

“Seul?” Hwasa asked as she turned around, wondering what made her stop so abruptly.

“Good morning!” A drop-dead gorgeous woman greeted, her doe eyes twinkling as she did.

All of a sudden, Seulgi didn’t mind if she had more shifts in the mornings.

Maybe she could switch with Wheein, too.

Seulgi was entranced, and she could sense the confidence and positivity radiating out of her entire being, unlike the other day when she was quite reserved and appeared quite intimidating despite her small stature. She looked so different— it was a complete 180 of how she was yesterday. Irene was no longer wearing her glasses and oversized sweater, and instead had changed into a miniskirt and a stylish blouse. She looked absolutely amazing and Seulgi almost foamed at the mouth at the duality of the woman.

It was as if she was looking at a mirage.

Her stomach didn’t seem to agree with her this time though, as it was an ocean of calm as compared to the last time she had seen Irene. Maybe she was getting used to seeing such a goddess.

It was probably that.

Irene leaned forward, meeting Seulgi eye to eye.

“You okay there?” The melodic voice asked, and Seulgi wanted to kneel down in front of her again.

That was, until her brain seemed to have reminded her that she hadn’t responded yet.

“G-good morning to you, too!” Seulgi stuttered. Hwasa rolled her eyes affectionately and rubbed Seulgi’s back before joining Joy. The bear like girl spaced out, completely mesmerized at the woman in front of her.

“Wheeinie isn’t here today?” The ethereal woman asked, a pout on her delicate features. Seulgi’s mood dampened a bit that that. She knew that Irene had been here for a few days, but she’s never actually seen her come in. She’d never even held much of a conversation with the woman, but she seemed to have missed Wheein as if they were old friends.

Maybe they were old friends, Seulgi mused. Or perhaps Wheein just got along better with her. That girl was like a puppy in human form after all; it was impossible to  _ not _ like such a happy and endearing human being.

“Nope,” Seulgi responded, popping the p. “She had an appointment to go to this morning, so I’m covering for her,” She continued.

“Would you like the usual before you get to work?” Seulgi then asked. The woman tilted her head, and her face visibly scrunched in confusion. The bear like girl hadn’t noticed that Irene was this expressive.

“Um maybe you’d like to try something new then, Irene-ssi?” She decided to ask, watching Irene’s expression contort into a grin.

That was new.

Was it something she said? Seulgi wondered.

“No, but um, what specifically was my usual again? I spent all my time, uh, coding yesterday that I forgot,” Irene said and pouted cutely.

If she kept being like this, Seulgi might as well melt on the spot.

“Oh, it was carrot cake and a vanilla latte. You must’ve been working hard yesterday, Irene-ssi,” Seulgi smiled, her eyes upturning into crescents as he spoke.

“Jisoo,” A voice as sharp as a blade suddenly cut through the air. Irene had practically jumped at the sound, and quickly turned around.

“Unnie, hey! Haha, I didn’t see you there!”

Seulgi craned her neck to see who had just arrived.

It was Irene. Again.

Except this time, she was wearing her glasses and oversized sweater combo. For some reason, her stomach seemed to be doing backflips again.

_ Wait, what? _

“What do you think you’re doing?” Glasses Irene said coldly to Miniskirt Irene. Seulgi was beyond confused.

Unbeknownst to the bear-like girl, Hwasa and Joy were behind her, watching the spectacle.

“When Jisoo said looked like her sister, but just didn’t have her sense of style, she wasn’t kidding,” Hwasa mumbled, crossing her arms.

“She’s a regular?” Joy asked, watching the Irene look-a-like pale at the presence of the actual Irene. The barista couldn’t blame her, if looks could kill Jisoo was long gone.

“Yeah, she comes in at the morning, usually with her girlfriend,” Hwasa said, leaning back against the counter.

“They’re like night and day… But damn, what is in their water?” Joy said as she observed the preppy girl and the ice-cold woman who were both equally stunning. Hwasa hummed in agreement.

“T-there’s two of you?!” Seulgi practically yelled as her brain struggled to process things. Joy was just thankful the café was still quite empty.

“Yup, I’m glad you know how to count!”

“She’s my sister, Seulgi-ssi,”

Glasses Irene and Miniskirt Irene answered at the same time. The former seemed to glare at the latter who only chuckled.

The fact had only managed to baffle Seulgi even more.

“You’re both so pretty? What?” Seulgi absentmindedly said, her mouth agape. Glasses Irene seemed to color at that while Miniskirt Irene confidently grinned.

“Thanks, thanks, we get that a lot, especially Hyunnie here who’s just pretending to be shy,” Jisoo said, grinning as Irene hit her shoulder. The preppy girl winced in pain.

“So um, what’ll you be getting um, Jisoo-ssi, was it?” Seulgi’s stomach decided to rest from doing those backflips, and her mind reminded her that she was still at work.

“Yup, and you must be Seulgi,” Jisoo pointed at the bear-like girl’s nametag that was pinned to her shirt. “But can I call you mine?” The playful girl waggled her eyebrows.

Seulgi’s jaw dropped for the nth time that day.

Joy practically choked on air as she witnessed the scene. Hwasa raised a brow.

“I thought you had a girlfriend?” Hwasa asked. Seulgi practically jolted at the sound of Hwasa’s voice and whipped her head to look at her.

“H-how long have you both been there?!” Seulgi practically shrieked. Jisoo could only laugh loudly.

“Don’t worry unnie, I’m just lending a helping hand to the useless lesbians,” Jisoo said confidently as she flipped her hair. Seulgi could only tilt her hair in confusion.

“That they are,” Hwasa agreed.

“Wait, are you talking about me? No I’m not!” Seulgi argued, a pout on her features. Joy was wheezing, her laughter coming in sudden bursts.

“Jisoo!” Irene slapped her sister’s arm angrily.

“I like you already! Damn, do you have another attractive relative you can hook me up with?” Joy asked as she rested her hands on her hips, a grin on her face.

“Kim Yerim might be your type. She’s my cousin and a part of Hyunnie’s team, y’know, the one that kinda looks like Squirtle,” Jisoo replied all too happily.

“Why are you like this?” Irene sighed in defeat. The preppy girl seemed to have ignored her and faced Seulgi.

“Anyway, I’ll have two americanos, two slices of blueberry cheesecake and a slice of carrot cake,” Jisoo said without much thought. Just as Seulgi had inputted what the preppy girl had ordered, Jisoo had leaned in closer.

“By the way, Hyunnie loves carrot cake—it’s her favorite—but she absolutely hates tea and coffee, and she was probably just polite to say no. She loves softdrinks though, but please don’t give her too much. If she dies I’ll be broke,” Jisoo hurriedly whispered before she was pulled back harshly by Irene.

Seulgi’s brows were raised. That was why Irene never seemed to finish the lattes she’d give her. The barista thought she’d appreciate the coffee, as she seemed to work nonstop when she was at the café.

“A-anyway, here’s the money! Keep the change, cutie!” Jisoo shouted as she was being dragged away by her older sister.

Seulgi watched as Irene stomped away with her sister in tow. Her face seemed to be flushed, but she couldn’t tell what that meant. Maybe she really didn’t like being near her?

The bear-like girl was lost. She really thought that Irene was perhaps interested in her, based on her reactions yesterday, but maybe she was just getting ahead of herself.

She sighed as she got back to work.

“I think your goddess likes you,” Hwasa whispered and nudged the bear-like girl as she walked back into the kitchen.

Seulgi couldn’t hold back a smile as she sliced a piece of carrot cake, making the slice a bit bigger than the usual serving.

* * *

 

Right after Jisoo had caused chaos earlier that day, the usual stream of customers had come into the café, along with the rest of Irene’s coworkers. Seulgi had also arrived by their table earlier with their order. While it wasn’t necessary for her to do, the sisters were thankful for the barista nonetheless. As Seulgi left and went straight into the kitchen, Jisoo started to talk.

Sometimes, Irene wondered how her never got tired of talking so much.

“Seulgi’s such a cutie, unnie. But wow, aren’t you a useless lesbian?” Jisoo said sarcastically as she sipped on her coffee.

The sound of Irene typing on her laptop had become louder.

“And what do you mean by that?” She said without looking at her younger sister.

“Aw, are you jealous because I flirted with her and you didn’t?” Jisoo nudged Irene with her shoulder.

“Hey! I’m typing here,” Irene said, evidently annoyed. Jisoo sighed as she ate her cake.

“Look, I know you love programming and making your games and all, but you should really get a girlfriend, Hyunnie. After all, you’re almost—” Jisoo stopped herself as she glanced at Irene’s laptop screen.

“You're seriously making a flowchart about Seulgi? Why are you so embarrassing?” Jisoo said loudly. She could hear Yeri cackling not so far away. Irene buried her face in her hands, thankful that Seulgi wasn’t by the counter at the moment.

“I don’t do emotions, okay? Making a  _ logical _ flowchart will help me understand—” Irene tried to argue.

“You’re such a loser, you know. Just wear that cute nurse outfit and just ask her out already!” Jisoo practically yelled into the room. Irene’s face reddened and she had to check whether Seulgi heard anything.

When she noticed the bear-like girl’s absence, she sighed in relief. However, she didn’t miss the smirk Joy sent her way as she was checking.

“That is not a nurse outfit, that's—" Irene tried to argue, facing Jisoo once more.

“Blah blah blah, I get it. Please just get a love life. You look pathetic like this,” Jisoo gestured with her hands. Irene rolled her eyes.

“Are you going to continue being mean to me or will I stop helping you pay for your student loans?” Irene snapped back, looking into her sister’s eyes.

Jisoo paled at that. The two could hear the voice of Marshmell shouting “Press F to pay respects!” and Yeri yelling “FFFFF!” back obnoxiously.

“I love you Hyunnie, did you know that you're the best?” Jisoo said in a sickly sweet voice, ignoring both Marshmell and Yeri. Irene couldn’t help but grimace at that as she switched tabs, continuing her work.

“And here I thought I was the best,” A voice whined. Irene looked up to find Jennie sitting opposite of her and Jisoo in the booth. The preppy girl quickly transferred to sit beside her girlfriend.

“You are, but student loans are hard to pay for, so I had to do something,” Jisoo said as she nuzzled into Jennie’s embrace. Irene pretended to vomit.

“You’re just salty because you don’t have a girlfriend,” Jisoo said teasingly, poking her tongue out at her sister. Shortly after that, the younger girl handed Jennie the extra americano and cheesecake she ordered earlier. The latter kissed Jisoo’s cheek before digging in

“What are you two doing here anyway? Don’t you both have classes today?” Irene asked as she watched their interaction.

The developer would never admit it out loud, but they were an adorable couple. Not only that, but Jennie was a good influence to Jisoo, especially in terms of her studies. She managed to get Jisoo’s lazy ass to actually get good marks in math— a feat not even Irene could do.

Sometimes, Irene did wish she had someone like that too

“No,” Jisoo simply said, wringing Irene out of her thoughts.

Irene raised a brow, staring into Jisoo’s soul. Jennie couldn’t help but look away even if she wasn’t the one being stared at.

“…Yes,” The preppy girl admitted.

“But that’s not important right now!” Jisoo continued.

“Jisoo—” Irene tried to interject.

“Please help me with my student loans, I’ll do anything,” Jisoo leaned forward, clasping her hands together in front of her face. Irene sighed at her sister’s antics.

“Then go to class,” She deadpanned.

“Wait, I wasn’t done! Besides, the class was a free cut anyway.. The professor told us beforehand so let me finish,” Jisoo continued to persist.

“What is it, Jisoo? You know I have work to do,” Irene finally relented, leaning back into the plush seats as she watched Jisoo talking animatedly.

“Okay so, Jennie may have entered a cosplay costume making competition at this convention to widen her portfolio,” Jisoo started. Irene hummed, acknowledging that she was listening.

“But she doesn’t have a model, so maybe you’d want to—” Irene interrupted Jisoo before she could finish.

“Jisoo, you’re perfectly capable of being a model for that,” She said, silently wondering why Jennie didn’t elect Jisoo to do it instead. They looked similar anyway, if Jennie was looking for a model based on their appearance.

“But I don’t know the character like you do, and you have a rep! It’ll be easy to win with you, especially since you’ll be cosplaying as Baechu from Red Velvet,”Jisoo tried to encourage. Irene shook her head.

As much as Irene loved cosplay, she had things to do, and she couldn’t just leave this project. Its progress in general was going fine, but the developer was worried about it ever since Gaebal had overwrote the working alpha. Weeks of her blood, sweat, and tears were practically gone now, especially since she still hadn’t found the root cause of the bugs that were occurring.

“You won’t be alone, unnie. Seungwan unnie greed to cosplay as Wendy,” Jennie piped up.

“Why don’t you just bring a tombstone with Seugwan? After all, Baechu dies first there anyway,” Irene deflected, but was already tempted by the offer.

“C’mon Hyunnie, it’s not like you’ll spend on anything anyway! Jennie’s gonna design the costumes, and I’ll handle the props. Baechu uses that gun you love, right? Pick the model you want online, and I’ll order it. Jennie and I will even cover the convention ticket,” Jisoo added, her eyes twinkling with anticipation. The preppy girl knew that Irene was already on the verge of saying yes, especially with her love of model guns.

“Besides Irene unnie, I’m sure your fans would be over the moon to hear that their beloved Ahreum is cosplaying Baechu from Red Velvet. It’s the hottest anime of the year, unnie! Don’t you think it’s a great opportunity?” Jennie double teamed Irene.

“…Fine,” Irene surrendered to her younger sister’s whims.

When hadn’t she, anyway?

“You’re the best, Hyunnie!” Jisoo said, a bright smile on her face.

“Do you want more cake? It’s on me, unnie,” Jennie offered kindly with a happy grin that rivaled Jisoo’s.

“By the way, Hyunnie,” Jisoo suddenly started. “Shouldn’t every line of code end with a semicolon?” She asked. Irene raised a brow, wondering why her sister was suddenly interested in programming when she was a theater major.

“It depends on the language… Why do you ask?” Irene replied slowly.

“Oh because a while ago, I saw a line in your code that didn’t have a semicolon. I dunno, that might’ve been important.” Jisoo added nonchalantly while Irene straightened in her seat. The developer’s eyes zeroed in on her current code as she scrolled rapidly through the program.

“Just kidding, Hyunnie!” Jisoo suddenly said and cackled as Jennie shook her head.

Irene nearly slammed her laptop shut.

Today was going to be another long day, she supposed.

* * *

 

A bit of small talk and some more eating later, Jisoo and Jennie excused themselves as they had a class to attend. Once they were out of sight, Irene rested her head on the table.

What did she get herself into this time?

Irene wrinkled her nose as her eyes met the error text on screen vanished into thin air as soon as she pressed save.

She didn’t know how she fixed the error, or better yet, how the error seemed to fix itself, but her code was now working, and that was all that mattered. Irene turned her head, averting her gaze to somewhere else that wasn’t her screen.

_ Well, at least that’s done. _

Just as Irene was gazing at nothing in particular—a terrible attempt at resting her eyes after coding for so long— a figure blocked her view of the café and its patrons. Not long after, a coca cola can had been placed beside her.

“Here. You looked tired, Irene-ssi,” An angelic voice spoke. Irene’s gaze traveled upwards, admiring the view. For once, she was thankful that real life’s resolution was well and beyond 4K.

“How old are you?” She decided to ask, still looking up at the angel.

“Um, I was born in ’94?” Seulgi answered, taken aback at the sudden question.

“Unnie,” Irene said softly. If Seulgi were standing further away, she wouldn’t have caught it.

“What?” The bear-like girl asked again, unsure if she heard her right.

“Call me unnie… I was born in ’91,” Irene briefly explained.

“Oh okay um well, my shift is over so uh...” Seulgi paused for a moment, hoping that she wouldn’t screw up. “Irene unnie, I’ll see you tomorrow! Good luck with your project!” The bear-like girl said and rushed out of the café to where Joy was. Unable to hide her joy, she jumped around happily.

What Seulgi didn’t know was Irene was hiding her smile using the cuff of her sweater, giggling internally as she watched Seulgi jump around from the outside of the cafe.

“She let me call her unnie!” Seulgi practically squealed as she murdered Joy’s arm with her strength.

Joy smiled softly at her best friend. But that didn’t last so long, as the tall woman had an image to maintain.

“Invite me to your wedding, okay?” She teased.

“W-what!? Hey!”


	3. Seulgi(double smile);

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seulgi questioned how Irene is actually real.

It was just another regular day, Seulgi tried to remind herself. But the bear-like girl couldn’t sit still at all. For some reason, Irene was nowhere to be found, and she seemed to be replaced by a girl named Seungwan, who directed Moonbyul’s team like Irene would usually do. Although the girl was definitely more vocal about what she wanted than the developer, the barista couldn’t help but feel a bit off about someone else other than Irene or Moonbyul giving orders to the team, even if she wasn’t even a part of it. It wasn’t that Seungwan was a bad or bossy person by any means— heck she was probably the nicest person Seulgi’s met— but the cafe felt a bit empty without a certain bespectacled goddess.

 

It was as if Irene was just a mirage since no one seemed to question where the developer was.

 

Except for Seulgi, of course.

 

The barista watched as Seungwan leaned over to look at Yeri’s screen, briefly commenting and making various gestures to get her point across. As Seulgi wiped the counter, she could faintly hear their conversation.

 

“So unnie for the level design, I heard we’re changing it?” Yeri asked Seungwan.

 

“Yup! It’s nothing too drastic though, I just noticed a bit of a loophole players could take advantage of if we kept the old design. I’ve already uploaded the updated documents, so you’d best refer to that now instead of the old one,” The latter answered as she continued to scrutinize Yeri’s work. Seulgi briefly wondered why Seungwan wasn’t burying herself in her laptop unlike the rest of the team.

 

“Okay, but anyway did Byul unnie tell you about the bugs?” The young artist asked the new girl.

 

“Oh the one that Gaebal mistakenly overwrote?” Seungwan asked. Gaebal, who was seated opposite her, shrunk in his seat.

 

“I-it’s all fixed now, though! Moonbyul-ssi’s checked the alpha already,” Gaebal tried to respond despite his slightly flushed state.

 

“I know. Geez, you should be lucky your senior is so good at what she does,” Seungwan commented as she sipped on her espresso, its strong taste didn’t seem to faze her in the slightest.

 

“Yeah… Irene-ssi’s really cool,” Gaebal said, his tone dripping with admiration. At that, Seulgi sighed in relief.

 

Okay, so Irene is definitely real.

 

It was a ridiculous thought that Irene wasn’t real given all the interactions they’ve had thus far. The bear-like girl could only blame Moonbyul for making her think otherwise.

 

“Seul, I think the counter might blind us with how hard you’re scrubbing it,” Seulgi jumped a bit at the voice. Turning around, she faced Solar.

 

“Seulbear, are you alright? You’re spacing out,” The caring woman asked, her eyes twinkling in concern.

 

“Yeah, I just, uh…” The barista tried to explain herself. She herself couldn’t even fathom why Irene’s absence bothered her so much. For all she knew, she could just be taking a day off after all of her hard work. After all, Irene was always the first and the last to come and go out of all of them so far.

 

“You’re wondering where Irene went, aren’t you?” Another voice resounded. Seulgi nearly died of a heart attack as she clutched her chest.

 

“Byul-ah, you almost gave her a heart attack!” Solar said as she pulled the bear-like girl towards herself. “And who gave you the right to use the back entrance?” The woman continued, her brow raised.

 

“But _babe_ —” Moonbyul tried to reason with her wife.   


“Apologize this instant,” Solar didn’t seem to be in the mood to take no for an answer.

 

“I’m, uh, sorry for scaring you, Seul. And I’m sorry for using the back entrance,” Moonbyul said meekly, scratching the back of her neck. It was a stark contrast to how intimidating the team leader could be when she reminded her team on what they needed to be doing.

 

“Good,” Solar seemed satisfied with that as she moved to kiss her wife’s cheek. The latter’s face brightened, a huge grin threatening to split her face in half appeared not so long after. The bear-like girl couldn’t help but shake her head at the couple.

 

“Before you spit out any of your greasy lines, Moonbyul unnie,” A new voice suddenly started, soft footsteps approaching the trio, “Here’s a copy of the design changes I made while I was out,” Seungwan said, smiling.

 

“Mood ruiner. Just because your greasy lines don’t work as well as mine doesn’t mean you have to interrupt me,” Moonbyul pouted, and Solar couldn’t help but roll her eyes at that.

 

“But anyway thanks for the heads up, and it’s great to finally have you back Wannie. I’m sure Irene’s gonna be really happy to see you,” The team leader  continued and grinned at the girl. The bear-like girl briefly wondered why Seungwan’s nickname was Wannie.

 

“Speaking of which, where is she? I assumed you gave her a day off, but she hasn’t been replying to my texts,” Seungwan asked and glanced to the side, her gaze meeting Seulgi’s briefly.

 

“Yeah, she won’t be replying any time soon. I came in late because earlier Irene and I were out buying better equipment for playtesting. She’s back at the office since we can’t exactly bring it here to assemble since it’s messy and well, yeah. You know the rest,” Moonbyul gestured with her hands. Seungwan seemed to understand her, while Seulgi was perplexed.

 

“I see. I guess I’ll talk to her later then, God knows nothing can stop Irene when she’s got her hands on PC parts…” Seungwan thought out loud and took a glance in Seulgi’s direction. “By the way, I don’t think we’ve met,” Seungwan said, a gentle smile on her features.

 

“Ah yeah, Wannie, this is Seulgi,” Moonbyul introduced. Solar was quick to follow up. “She’s our adopted child,” The woman said.

 

Seulgi wasn’t sure why, but whenever Solar or Moonbyul mentioned that she was their adopted child, it always made her feel warm and happy inside even if they were just joking about it. And since the bear-like girl was incapable of hiding her own emotions, a bright smile decorated her features as she reached a hand out for Seungwan to shake.

 

“Oh so you’re the ‘child’ they kept talking about! I actually thought Solar unnie was referring to an actual child with the way she talked about you. But anyway, It’s great to finally meet you! Feel free to call me Wannie,”  Seungwan said just as happily, eagerly shaking the bear-like girl’s hand. The barista’s happiness seemed to infect Seungwan as well.

 

“Wait a minute,” Wannie suddenly said as she crossed her arms, her expression contemplative. “Are you also the same Seulgi Irene talks about?” She asked, and Seulgi’s eyes disappeared due to her sheer happiness.

 

“She talks about me?” The barista asked, a dopey grin on her face. Moonbyul and Solar couldn’t help but smile at how genuinely happy Seulgi looked.

 

“She’s the one and only Seulgi around here,” Moonbyul replied, ruffling Seulgi’s hair. The latter was too happy to care that her hair had been messed up.

 

“I told you there was nothing you should worry about,” Solar said, nudging her happily.

 

“And here I thought there was something to be worried about,” Wannie breathed a sigh of relief.

 

“What do you mean by that?” Seulgi asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

 

“Oh, nothing~” Seungwan said, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Anyway, I’ll get back to work. I’ll see you around, Seulgi-ssi,” She said and turned around, heading back to the booth where the rest of her team was. From where the barista was standing, she could see Yeri hurling a pen at Marshmell, and Wannie quickly pacifying the two troublemakers.

 

Seulgi smiled at their antics. They were an odd and rowdy bunch, but the bear-like girl found that she didn’t mind at all. It was refreshing to see people who were genuinely enjoying what they were doing, as opposed to coming face-to-face with countless people ordering the strongest coffee they could get just to get through each grueling day. They were hard working, even if their lax disposition made them seem careless. Watching them work was admirable, and if Seulgi wasn’t working at such a good place, she would’ve been jealous.

 

Although out of everyone, Seulgi thought Irene stood out the most, being the most reserved among them. She wasn’t rowdy unlike the rest of them, but all of them still got along all the same. The bear-like girl lived for watching the subtle changes in Irene’s expressions when she was programming or talking to the team. She loved watching the passion in Irene’s eyes when she was teaching her junior, or when she talked about the things she loved. Sure Seulgi’s attention had first been taken by the developer’s looks, but her passion and kind attitude had the barista hook, line and sinker for the goddess.

 

It was why Seulgi made it a point to always bring Irene something to eat or drink from time to time. Irene was sometimes a bit too passionate and hardworking that she’d forget to take care of herself.

 

Seulgi couldn’t allow that.

 

Speaking of which, she could be overworking herself right now.

 

“Seulgi, why don’t you go visit Irene at our office? She’s technically still working so maybe you can bring her a little something so she could have a break,” Moonbyul suggested, bringing Seulgi out of her reverie. The bear-like girl’s brows were raised, it was as if she had read her mind.

 

Almost immediately, Moonbyul looked to Solar. “Would that be okay?” She asked the older woman.

 

“Of course it would be okay. Seul, bring her some carrot cake for all her hard work. It’s on the house,” Solar said, smiling at Seulgi.

 

“But how about my shift?” The bear-like girl asked. As much as she wanted to see Irene, she didn’t want to leave Sooyoung to her own devices, even if the café wasn’t especially busy today.

 

“Don’t worry, Wheeinie’s coming here already to make up for the shift you took over for her the other day. So go and have fun!” Solar encouraged Seulgi with a bright smile on her face.

 

“It’s hot at the office, so you might want to change into lighter clothes, by the way,” Moonbyul suggested.

 

“Thank you mom and dad!” Seulgi said happily, the brightness of her eye smile competing with the sun.

 

“Stay safe, dear!” Solar replied as the bear-like girl quickly gathered what she needed and dashed off. Moonbyul chuckled softly, the scene reminding her of a child dashing off to become the next Pokemon Master.

 

“I think we’re good parents,” Moonbyul said proudly as soon as Seulgi sped out of the cafe.

 

“They grow up so fast,” Solar said, leaning her head on her wife’s shoulder.  


* * *

 

 

Moonbyul didn’t warn her that the office would be this hot.

  


Seulgi knew that Irene was beautiful and cute, but she didn’t think that the goddess could look so _hot._

 

Seulgi was shaking.

 

Just this once, the bear-like girl admitted that she was truly a useless lesbian at the sight of a sweaty Irene in a tank top, her oversized sweater discarded haphazardly on top of a chair as she was lifting various sci-fi looking equipment around the place. Her hair was in a messy high bun, and the strands that framed her face only managed to make her look more attractive.

 

Seulgi actually didn’t know what to expect under the goddess’ sweater, but she was rather surprised to see that she had a slender figure and toned muscles instead of a soft but slim body the bear-like imagined her to have given the nature of her work and how she seemed to be in general.

 

The bear-like girl couldn’t even announce her presence as she was too mesmerized by Irene. The absolutely serene expression on her face was something she hadn’t seen from the older woman either.

 

She wondered again if Irene was actually a goddess, because it should’ve been illegal to look _that_ amazing.

 

Seulgi continued to gape at the goddess until Irene suddenly squeaked, finally noticing the bear-like girl standing in the doorway.

 

“S-Seulgi!” Irene’s voice sounded an octave higher than her usual tone. The goddess swallowed, suddenly feeling self conscious. “W-what are you doing here?” She asked.

 

“Well um, I, uh,” Seulgi struggled to form a coherent sentence, her eyes zoning in on her sneakers in attempt to hide her flushed face.

 

“Food, I have some,” The bear like girl managed to say, lifting the paper bag in front of her face. Her left hand clutched onto it like a lifeline, and Seulgi could feel the paper bag ripping at her vice-like grip.

 

“Oh, thank you… You— you didn’t have to,” Irene said with a small smile on her face as she placed down the screwdriver she was holding and approached the barista.

 

Seulgi decided to be a bit more courageous this time around.

 

“But I wanted to,” She said, lifting her head to meet Irene’s gaze.

 

It was at that moment when Seulgi regretted her actions.

 

She was not ready to see the goddess Irene so close to her face.

 

Irene jumped back slightly at their close proximity, not expecting Seulgi to lift her head so suddenly, and managed to mumble out a shy ‘thank you’ as she took the paper bag from the barista’s clammy hands.

 

Seulgi couldn’t wrap her head around how Irene could be so cute and hot at the same time.

 

“Would you like to join me? It’s a bit hot in here, but I think you brought enough food to feed the nation,” The goddess joked as she felt the weight of the paper bag and turned around to set it down on the table opposite from the equipment she was tinkering with.

 

A bright grin spread on Seulgi’s face when she realized that Irene made a joke.

 

Seulgi cleared her throat when she realized she was staring at Irene’s back for too long, watching as Irene set the food out on the table.

 

“A-anyway, what were you doing here? What are all of these things?” Seulgi asked, gesturing to the equipment that she thought could come straight out of Star Wars. The only thing she could properly identify in the sea of things was the VR headset, but other than that she wasn’t so sure what anything else was.

 

Seulgi had never really been good with technology, anyway.

 

Irene turned around to face Seulgi, handing her a sandwich.

 

“Oh, those are PC parts. I’m in the middle of building some PCs right now since we need to test our game on a varied set of computer specifications to see how well it can run depending on the situation…” Irene explained, gesturing Seulgi to take a seat as she popped open a can of coke and set it down on the table.

 

The barista followed, and watched as the goddess moved over to the table filled with PC parts, her hands adeptly putting various things together. Seulgi wasn’t sure what she was doing exactly, but she did it with so much care and grace that the bear-like girl couldn’t help but be entranced. Irene continued to speak as she moved around, picking up her screwdriver once more. Seulgi had never heard Irene become so chatty before, and she quickly concluded that she could listen to the goddess talk for hours and hours on end with that calming yet happy voice of hers, even if she couldn’t understand what she was talking about.

 

“Although, I have to admit I may have splurged a bit when Moonbyul told me to choose the parts for her. RGB lights in the RAM kits and customized cable sleeves may have been an unnecessary expense but they look really aesthetic and it wouldn’t hurt to—” Irene suddenly stopped talking, waking Seulgi out of her dazed state.

 

“I— Sorry. Did I bore you? People tell me that I end to get carried away sometimes. You— you can just tell me to shut up if I’m being too much… ” Irene shyly said. Seulgi noticed her shoulders droop a bit.

 

Seulgi frowned at that, and placed her sandwich down. She approached the bespectacled girl.

 

“No, you didn’t bore me to death, Irene unnie,” The bear-like girl couldn’t get over how Irene had allowed her to call her _unnie._ “I love it when people talk about the things they love,” Seulgi continued and smiled reassuringly, her gaze meeting Irene’s. “Whoever told you to shut up before was dumb to not appreciate you,” The barista continued, not realized that her hands moved on their own accord, grasping onto Irene’s.

 

“Though, yeah I probably didn’t understand half the things you said since I’m not that great with technology. But maybe you can teach me, and I can help you build this with you?” Seulgi offered. She watched as Irene’s expression seemed to spark back to life, the developer’s eyes twinkling with happiness.

 

“O-of course. Just, um, let go of my hands so I can show you how... ” Irene said in a small voice, looking down at their entwined hands.

 

“Oh! Yeah right, haha, sorry,” Seulgi dropped Irene’s hands as if they were hot coal, jumping back out of shock. “W-why don’t you have something to eat first before we get to that? I think you’ve been working for quite a while now with how much you’re sweating,” The bear-like girl tried to not be so awkward as she scratched the back of her neck, looking at anything that wasn’t Irene.

 

Today was going to be a long day.


	4. Windows Not Installed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who even decides on having an office without windows?

As Seulgi and Irene ate, the former realized that the goddess was definitely not wrong. Solar had packed so much food, the barista wasn’t sure whether her fake mother wanted her to feed just herself and Irene or give food to anyone she comes across on the way there. As much as Seulgi was a big eater, this was simply way too much.

 

Despite her mind saying that the food was definitely too much, the bear-like girl found herself immersed in her sandwich, hungrily devouring the snack much like the animal her friends often compared her to. That was, until her sharp ears picked up a small giggle. Eyes widening, Seulgi turned to look at the only other person in the room.

 

Doe eyes were shimmering in amusement as they looked at the barista, and Seulgi couldn’t help but send a smile back, her eyes upturning to crescents even if she had no idea what was going on. Irene placed her food down and raised her hand, gesturing for the bear-like girl to come closer.

 

Cluelessly Seulgi leaned closer towards Irene, her heart thundering in her chest as the space between them closed. When they met eye to eye, the goddess suddenly cupped the taller girl’s face and leaned closer. Seulgi held her breath. The bear-like girl was sure that she was flushed from head to toe, and squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to not completely combust at what was going to happen next.

 

Seulgi suddenly felt a smooth sensation ghosting atop her lips. When she felt the developer lean away from her, the bear-like girl’s eyes fluttered open.

 

“Uh—”

 

“There was sauce on your face... You should slow down a bit, there’s no rush...” Irene said rather calmly as she folded the napkin she used to wipe the creamy substance off of Seulgi’s face, a small smile on her lips. The barista chomped on her sandwich, devouring all of its remains in an attempt to ease her nerves. If Irene was bothered how brash she was being, she didn’t let it show.

 

“I know I said it earlier, but you could really feed the whole world with all of this,” The goddess gestured to the bag of food that still seemed to be filled to the brim with various sandwiches and pastries. Seulgi swallowed hard and gathered her courage.

 

“Well, I was hoping I did…” Seulgi paused, gauging Irene’s reaction as the goddess gracefully ate her own sandwich.

 

“Because you’re my world,” The bear-like girl tried to wink, which only resulted to both of her eyes closing and opening at random intervals, as if her eyes were having a seizure.

 

Irene was coughing up a storm by the time the barista ended her attempts at winking, and Seulgi quickly grabbed tissues to hand over to the developer, and patted her back repeatedly to ease her coughing.

 

“Are you okay—” The usually slow bear was quick to face Irene. “Oh my gosh your lips are bleeding!” She suddenly exclaimed, her eyes widening as she saw a streak of red descending from plush lips.

 

“It’s— I’m not,” Irene said calmly while pushing Seulgi away. “It’s the ketchup,” The developer clarified as she dabbed a napkin on her face, removing the reddish substance.

 

“Oh, I was worried for a second there,” The barista said, relief evident on her features, oblivious to the pink hues adorning the goddess’ face.

 

Seulgi did not need to know that Irene bit her lip too hard just to stop herself from dying on the spot.

  
  


When the pair had finally finished their little meal, with Irene insisting that she was  _ perfectly fine _ , despite the fact that her heart was beating a mile a minute, the developer went ahead to teach Seulgi how to build a computer. It was mostly to distract herself. Mostly.

 

Besides the usual system overloads Irene would get over the angelic girl, the developer soon discovered that if Seulgi was as smooth as butter when it came to her pick up lines, her hands seemed to be even smoother.

 

Irene wasn’t sure how she survived watching Seulgi almost drop another set of expensive PC parts.

 

With her hand on her chest, struggling to catch her breath after the bear-like girl nearly knocked the newly built desktop off the table just by turning around, the developer decided that perhaps messing with technology was not Seulgi’s thing. At all.

 

Nonetheless, she appreciated her enthusiasm.

 

It was cute.

 

Scratch that, it was absolutely adorable and Irene was smitten.

 

But this had to come to a stop before the developer actually dies of cardiac arrest from the angel’s cuteness and clumsiness all at once.

 

“Seulgi why don’t you move those boxes over here first, and I’ll finish this,” Irene gestured to the computer while the bear-like girl nodded dumbly as she returned the screwdriver to the developer. When they had switched places, Irene couldn’t help but notice that Seulgi seemed out of it. The angel-like girl’s cheeks were flushed, and she was sweating buckets even with her sleeves rolled up to her elbows.

 

“Seulgi?” Irene tilted her head slightly, looking at the barista in concern. When she received nothing as a response, the developer realized that she must’ve been overheating.

 

Though Irene was never one to assume, so she might as well ask.

 

“You look… thirsty,” The developer managed to voice out instead. That seemed to jolt Seulgi out of her trance, as the bear-like girl’s features quickly turned into a shade of crimson.

 

“Wha— I, uh, well—” The barista struggled to form a proper sentence, her eyes darting to anywhere  _ but  _ Irene while the developer seemed completely oblivious to the situation. The latter turned around and bent down to retrieve a water bottle from the bag. Seulgi squeezed her eyes shut.

 

“Windows!” Seulgi muttered much too loudly as she swallowed, listening to the sound of items shuffling about. “Who on earth decided to have an office without windows…” The barista tugged on her shirt in a feeble attempt to cool herself down from the heat and from the object of her affections.

 

“Windows? Oh shoot,” Seulgi’s eyes snapped open, watching Irene place the cold water bottle to her head for a while before handing it to the bear-like girl. A small frown was etched on the smaller girl’s face, the glare from her glasses blocking her eyes.

 

“I can’t believe I forgot to bring the installer… But another one should be here somewhere...” Irene muttered, mostly to herself as she removed the hair tie from her head, her hands raking down her brown locks. While the developer was preoccupied with her thoughts, Seulgi greedily gulped down the water bottle’s contents before attempting to speak.

 

“Maybe it’s in one of the boxes?” The barista suggested. She could no longer stay so close to a goddess that didn’t know how absolutely alluring she was at the moment. “I can look for whatever that is,” Seulgi continued as she quickly shuffled towards the boxes that were stacked haphazardly in the corner of the small office space.

 

Irene jumped slightly at the bear-like girl passing by her, as the latter’s footsteps were almost completely silent. The developer huffed in annoyance, frustrated at how easily she jumped at anything that moved. When Irene realized which box Seulgi was about to pick up, she knew she had to stop her.

 

Her life depended on it.

 

She would rather deal with another round of bugs than Seulgi seeing the contents of that box.

 

“Seulgi, wait!”  

 

Suddenly, Irene had turned into a track star with how fast she was able to get to Seulgi, her small frame soaring through the sky as she sat atop the box that the barista was about to grab.

 

The large stack of boxes swayed uneasily, and Seulgi’s grip on the box that Irene was currently sitting on was faltering.

 

It was at that moment that the developer realized that many mistakes were made today.

 

“AAH!”

 

“Irene!”

* * *

 

“Seulrene, it’s official,” Yeri announced into the cafe like she owned the place, her fist pounding on the table as she sipped on her caramel frappuccino. Marshmell rolled her eyes at that.

 

“Reneseul. Pretty sure Irene’s a lowkey top,” The lead artist argued, pointing her tablet pen accusingly at the younger girl as she rapidly pressed the save button with her free hand. Wheein could be heard trying but miserably failing to stop her own laughter from a distance.

 

“We all know she is, but Seulrene sounds better,” Yeri crossed her arms. Joy watched, completely amused at their antics as she stood by the counter.

 

“Are we talking ship names here?” Joy leaned forward, a smirk on her features as Yeri and Marshmell whipped around to face her.

 

“Yep.” The younger girl said, determination sparkling in her eyes. Joy was faintly amused by her expression.

 

“Seulrene. You guys don’t know it yet, but Seulgi has this huge BDE going for her,” Joy said confidently, crossing her arms.

 

“Nuh-uh. Don’t be a liar,” Marshmell argued. Gaebal cluelessly watched their exchange as he stretched, his mind too boggled to work on his code.

 

“What’s BDE?” He asked Seungwan, their resident game designer as he knew that she would probably be the only person considerate enough to actually answer his questions when he didn’t know something.

 

“It’s something you don’t need to know, Gaebal-ssi. You’ll just get more confused right now,” Wannie patted the developer’s back comfortingly, although the latter wasn’t sure why.

 

“Anyway, before you rudely interrupted me,” Joy started, double checking if anyone was about to come in and order, “Seulbear is actually a dancer. She does perform over the weekend sometimes. When you see her onstage, her BDE goes through the roof, I swear,” The tall barista finished with her head held high.

 

“Hard to imagine, she’s waaay too cute and innocent for that. I don’t believe you,” Marshmell commented, not minding the ring of the door being opened. 

 

“Seulgi  _ is _ an amazing dancer, though,” A new voice joined their conversation. The group averted their gazes towards the newcomers. Joy recognized Moonbyul, but had no idea who the man standing beside her was.

 

“And you never know, Marshmell,” The man whistled, “I mean Irene is also—” Before the man could even finish his words, Seungwan quickly clapped a hand over his mouth. It made a loud smacking sound that echoed into the room, and Joy briefly wondered how much it must’ve hurt him.

 

“Irene is what?” Wheein, ever the curious puppy piped up as multiple sets of eyes looked towards the unknown man. Yeri was cackling while Moonbyul smirked, and they seemed to be the only ones besides Wannie who understood what was going on.

 

“Park Bogum! We promised her!” Wannie practically yelled while the man named Bogum removed the hand that was blocking his mouth.

 

“Hey! I’m still your superior even though we’re friends. But fine, I’d rather not face Irene’s wrath anyway,” He said dismissively. From not so far away, Yeri could be heard muttering what could’ve been an insult directed at him. Joy supposed that Yeri loved her job enough to not say it in his face.

 

“Well you guys will get the picture once you see it,” Moonbyul hinted as she signalled Bogum to do something.

 

“Anyway because I’m the best producer you could ever ask for, I bought us all tickets to the convention this weekend!” Bogum said excitedly as he waved the tickets and quickly distributed them to the team. Before Wannie could even ask, the producer was already one step ahead of her.

 

“And no, this will not be work related. We will not have a booth, nor demo our game. It’s just a way to relax and destress since I know you’ve all been waiting for this event,” Seungwan put down her raised finger as soon as Bogum answered her before she could even ask.

 

“We’ve also noticed that you guys seemed pretty stressed out lately, with the A/C breaking down, and everything else that followed after that tragedy,” Moonbyul shot a brief look at Gaebal who tried to hide himself in his seat as she spoke, “So I thought this’d be a good idea to relax. We also have a few more extra tickets if any of you guys would want to join us. It’s the least we could do for you guys tolerating us. So what do you say?” The team leader asked, looking between both Joy and Wheein as she grinned.

 

Joy recrossed her arms. 

 

“Does this have anything to do with why Seungwan-ssi stopped him from talking?” The tall barista asked, pointing at the producer.

 

“I was curious about that too—” Gaebal tried to join the conversation, but was immediately cut off by the artist.

 

“It has  _ everything  _ to do with that,” Yeri answered instead and grinned. “Come with us!” The young artist offered. While Joy thought about her answer and the rest chattered away, three mischievous minds were busy discussing other important matters.

 

“Seungwan, I swear she’ll find out before the convention ends,” Moonbyul smirked, her hands resting on her hips confidently.

 

“I doubt it, she’d be too smitten to realize anything,” Wannie countered.

 

“Please, I bet Hyun’s too impatient. She’ll just reveal herself, do the ~moves~ and they’ll live happily ever after,” Bogum interjected, receiving frowns from both Moonbyul and Seungwan.

 

“No, Joohyun’s too dense for that, dummy. She also has none of these “moves” you speak of. You’re just terrible at playing dating sims while Joohyun just memorizes the possible algorithms when she helps you. I should know because I’m her  _ best friend, _ ” Seungwan emphasized. The producer frowned at that. Moonbyul sighed and silently slid away from the two, knowing that a heated debate was coming up at any moment. 

 

“Excuse you, I’ve known her for longer. And just because I haven’t met this Seulgi girl, doesn’t mean I can’t predict what Joohyun will do. And I do  _ not  _ suck at dating sims, the choices they offer are just too limited for my palate,” Bogum crossed his arms, staring down at the game designer. Wannie dramatically rolled her eyes at that.

 

“If you knew her that well, you’d know she’s an awkward mess of a human!” Wannie stomped her feet, frustrated at the height advantage the man had over her.

 

“But she’ll be Ah—!” Bogum raised his voice until he felt a menacing presence behind him.

 

“Stop scaring away my customers!” A loud voice screeched, its high pitch enough to break into the heavens as Moonbyul stealthily exited the cafe.

 

Bogum and Seungwan jumped at Solar’s voice and apologized profusely.

 

Moonbyul, from outside of the cafe was giggling to herself like a child as she ran.

* * *

“Seulgi, are you alright?"

"Seulgi?"

"Seulgi!”

 

It seemed as if a voice was calling her into the heavens.

 

Seulgi would’ve happily ascended if it weren't for her realizing that the voice she was hearing wasn’t coming from the heavens, but from a goddess on earth.

 

“Huh?” The bear-like girl opened her eyes and met nothing but darkness. Her body felt heavy as well. It was as if something was pinning her to the ground. Some rustling sounds could be heard, and all of a sudden Seulgi could see again and some weight was lifted off of her body. Irene was on top of her, straddling her waist and they were surrounded by a sea of boxes.

 

“There were some boxes covering you. Are you hurt anywhere?” Irene asked as her beautiful dark brown orbs seemed to frantically scan everywhere.

 

It had occurred to Seulgi that this was the first time she’d ever seen Irene without her glasses, and it was also the first time she’d seen her face so close to her own too.

 

Truly, such a goddess like her belonged in heaven. The barista wouldn’t be surprised if Irene were actually more beautiful than Aphrodite herself.

 

Seulgi gaped as she watched the goddess slowly sit up.

 

“...You don’t seem to be hurt anywhere. Um, can you help me find my glasses? They fell off and I can’t do much without them…” The developer said, noticing Seulgi’s lack of response.

 

“Of course. I can do anything when you’re by my side,” The bear-like girl absentmindedly replied.

 

When Seulgi finally registered her own words, she felt her ears heating up in embarrassment as she looked away.

 

Moonbyul’s greasiness was rubbing off on her. Badly.

 

“I, uh--”

 

“...Are you like this with everyone?”

 

When Seulgi whipped her head to look at the developer, she could see her side profile as she avoided the barista’s gaze, her usually pale skin was bathed in pinkish hues. The bear-like girl also noticed that she was biting her lip harshly.

 

If Seulgi was once unsure whether Irene liked her back or not, she was definitely sure that this was a sign that the goddess liked her back.

 

The bear-like girl just silently hoped that she wouldn’t ruin her chance.

 

“No. It’s just with you, Irene,” Seulgi uttered in almost a whisper. Irene quickly snapped her gaze to face the barista, uncertainty swimming in her enchanting irises.

 

A period of silence followed as they stared at each other, and Seulgi could tell what was on the tip of Irene’s tongue.

 

“Will you, will you let me show you?” Seulgi asked boldly, throwing all her fears out the nonexistent windows.

 

Irene shyly nodded, and that was enough for Seulgi to come closer, her hand gently cupping the goddess’ face.

 

It was like a dream come true.

 

The inches between them closed little by little. At the last moment, Seulgi closed her eyes and leaned forward.

 

_ BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! _

 

The barista’s eyes opened in shock as Irene stumbled back and quickly retrieved her phone from her pocket. Seulgi was left dumbfounded.

 

It took a bit of fumbling, and a lot of squinting but Irene was finally able to answer her phone.

 

“What do you want?” A shiver ran down Seulgi’s spine. She’d never heard Irene sound this threatening before.

 

“Hyunnie! I need you back home right now! It’s an emergency!” A voice that was unmistakably Jisoo’s reverberated through the device. Irene frowned as the call ended abruptly. The bear-like girl, on the other hand, looked evidently worried.

 

“I’ll help you look for your glasses so you can go to your sister. Don’t worry about the mess, I’ll clean it up. It was my fault anyway for trying to move things without your permission,,” Seulgi said quickly as she stood up, helping Irene stand in the process as the barista focused on finding the developer’s glasses.

 

“Thank you,” Irene said meekly as Seulgi found her glasses. Pacing quickly to the other side of the office, the bear-like girl handed Irene a water bottle and her sweater. 

 

“Go. I’ll call Moonbyul unnie and explain the situation and so she can lock the office too,” Seulgi said, already beginning to stack the fallen boxes up. The developer bit her lip.

 

“Okay,” The chatty Irene from earlier seemed to have vanished, replaced with the cold yet terribly shy developer that the barista first met, but Seulgi didn’t seem to mind it at the moment.

 

“What are you waiting for? Your sister needs you, she said it’s an emergency, right?” The bear-like girl approached her with a worried look on her face. It was the complete opposite of the carefree bear Irene would see at the cafe.

 

Irene stepped forward, courageously kissing Seulgi’s cheek before quickly muttering another thank you before bolting through the door.

 

The barista gaped, her hand coming to rest on the cheek Irene had just kissed.

 

Not long after, Seulgi’s knees buckled, sending her to the ground. With her last three brain cells, Seulgi speed dialed Moonbyul.

 

“AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!”

 

“Seulbear, are you okay? Is there anyone I need to--”

 

“SHE KISSED ME!”

 

“WHAT?!”

 

“ON THE CHEEK!”

 

“SOLAR, GET OVER HERE!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas! (ish, close enough lmao) sorry for the update delay, college is difficult and breaks are almost nonexistent. But anyway, if I'm not able to finish this by this month, then expect this fic to be completed by around February ish because I only write stuff during my school breaks because I literally have no time for anything but school when it starts back up again. Oh the joys of game development :') But anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading so far!


	5. Ahreum= true;

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seulgi just wasn't ready.
> 
> Not that Irene was, either.

Irene slammed the door shut as soon as she arrived home, panting hard as her eyes darted around the room in haste. The developer pushed her glasses up, as the sweat on her face had caused it to slip down.

 

_ Where is— _

 

“Unnie, hey!” Jisoo greeted gleefully, as if she hadn’t called her older sister like her life was on the line. Jennie popped up from behind Jisoo with a gummy smile on her face.

 

“I just finished your outfit, Irene unnie! Why don’t you try it on?”

 

The developer took a deep breath before making her way towards her younger sister. With each step, Jisoo felt as if death was slowly approaching her.

 

“You called me in  _ mock _ panic,” Irene accused, her sharp eyes seemed to fire lazers as she glared at Jisoo, “Just to tell me that my costume was done,” She said in a calm tone. If her gaze was shooting fiery lazers, then her voice was chilling the room to a dangerously low temperature.

 

Jisoo nodded, biting her lip in fear of what was to come. Jennie could only hide behind Jisoo’s small form.

 

“I, um—” Jisoo tried to speak, but her voice had failed her.

 

“I was at work, Jisoo. I could be doing more important things than—”

 

“We know! But psh, “important” my ass,” A new voice interjected as a door could be heard clattering from behind Jisoo and Jennie. The developer sent her glare towards the newcomers, Bogum and Seungwan.

 

Bogum was either too used to Irene’s glares, or putting up the strongest facade Wannie’s ever witnessed to be able to speak so normally towards an angry Bae Joohyun.

 

“I hope you didn’t forget, Irene, that the CCTVs in the office are connected to my phone, and I can watch what’s going on at any time, right?” He said, confidence in his tone. Irene colored significantly at his words, and Bogum launched his next attack.

 

“We noticed that you were…  _ very _ professional. Right, Wannie?” The producer nudged the game designer as he obnoxiously waggled his eyebrows. He was pretty sure his attacks were super effective, and that Irene was at 1 HP at this point.

 

“Uh-huh. Too bad we weren’t able to watch it live, though. But the replay is just as good,” Seungwan tried her best to follow up, her voice shaking slightly as she spoke. This would not end well for them.

 

“That still doesn’t explain why you called me like that,” Irene ignored them and pointedly glared at Jisoo. “I thought it was an actual emergency, Jisoo. You can’t just joke around like that,” The developer crossed her arms. It didn’t seem like it most of the time, but Irene loved her sister dearly, and anything remotely bad happening to her was something the developer did not want to think about.

 

“Full restore, oof,” Bogum mumbled out, inaudible to the menacing developer. He imagined Irene’s HP bar filling up once more with that retort. Seungwan rolled her eyes and nudged him harshly with her shoulder.

 

“B-but it was an emergency! Your fans  _ need _ to see you cosplay as Baechu, Ahreum-ssi!” Jisoo feigned confidence as she clasped her hands together theatrically. The developer rolled her eyes at the use of her alias, “Not to mention, the convention is tomorrow and you haven’t spared even a minute this week to try your costume on,” The preppy girl added.

 

Irene bit her lip. Jisoo was right, she didn’t spare any of her time at all to ask about the costume, and everything else she needed for the cosplay earlier. It made her feel bad because she had agreed to this after all, and the developer was someone who was either 0 or 1. There was no in between for her.   
  
Unfortunately, her brain seemed to have underestimated the work she could clear within the week. It didn’t help that someone was being so  _ distracting. _

 

Irene shook her head lightly. It felt like there was a bear-shaped virus in her head that she couldn’t get rid of.

 

“Beeesides,” Bogum interjected suddenly, bringing Irene out of her reverie, “You weren’t doing anything too important. You act like you can’t flirt with Seulgi-ssi anytime you want!” Bogum said dramatically. 

 

_ Theatre people, seriously. _ Irene mused, suddenly hoping that Jisoo wouldn’t be as unnecessarily dramatic as Bogum when she graduated.

 

“I WAS NOT—”

 

“It’s okay, unnie, we all saw what happened,” Jennie spoke up with a sweet smile on her face. “If you keep denying it, it’ll only become worse,” The fashion designer smiled all too sweetly. Before Irene could even come up with a reply, she continued.

 

“But anyway, we have no time to waste! We have to make sure this fits you comfortably. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to disappoint your fans, right? Wannie unnie’s been here waiting for you too so that both of you can try your outfits on at the same time,”

 

Irene heaved a sigh. It’s not like she had a choice to begin with.

 

“Fine,” She conceded and allowed herself to be led towards the bedroom.

 

“Hyunnie, why are you always settling for less?” Jisoo piped up as they entered the room. Bogum stayed behind, opting to play video games in the living room as he waited for them to finish trying the costumes on.

 

“What?” Was Irene’s response, unsure of where this was coming from. 

 

“She’s not wrong. You had  _ all _ the opportunity to kiss her on the lips—” Seungwan interjected.

 

“Wannie!” The developer slapped her best friend’s shoulder, a loud smack echoing into Jisoo’s room.

 

“What? She’s such a cutie, and if you weren’t so smitten for her I’d take my chances!” Seungwan confidently said as she grabbed her costume from where it was hung up.

 

“Like your bad pick up lines would get you anywhere, unnie,” Jisoo said, handing Seungwan various accessories.

 

“Hey! You talk as if Irene’s awkwardness gets her to places,” The game designer fought back, pouting as she tied her hair up into a ponytail.

 

“That’s true. It’s just her face—”

 

“Student loans,” Irene said flatly.

 

“I love you, Hyunnie!” Jisoo tried to pepper her older sister with hugs and kisses, but the developer was quick to sidestep and avoid the preppy girl as much as she could.

 

Irene rolled her eyes. Her sister’s algorithm was too easy to figure out.

 

“Unnies, can you please just try these on already?” Jennie finally spoke up, exasperated as she pushed the outfit towards Irene. 

 

“Jennie, take photos of the both of us when we’re ready. I’ll post a little teaser on my page,” Irene said as she took the costume, carefully inspecting the material in her hands.

 

It was time to switch Irene off, and Ahreum on.

 

* * *

 

 

“Unnie, as much as I want to support you on the things you love, I don’t think this is my scene,” Seulgi said as the bear-like girl found herself being dragged by none other than Moon Byulyi to a anime convention the next day. 

 

“Pshh, you’ll convert to a weeb in no time here!” Moonbyul replied as she continued to hold Seulgi’s wrist. “Now, come on, I think I see Joy over there,”

 

“Joy?” The bear-like girl raised her brows. Never would Seulgi expect the tall girl to attend one of these events. It just never seemed like her thing.

 

“Yeah, she’s with Yerim,” Moonbyul said and smirked. “Although the others are here too, somewhere,” The team leader continued as they browsed through each stall. Seulgi simply nodded in understanding as she looked over the art displays and the vibrant costumes that various cosplayers donned.

 

“If there’s anything you want, just tell me,” Moonbyul said before scanning the shelves for merch she could buy for Solar.

 

“Oka—” Seulgi was unable to finish her reply as her jaw decided to stop functioning entirely. The bear-like girl’s eyes landed on one of the cosplayers who had just come in from the convention entrance not so far away.

 

Before she could even zone in on how gorgeous the girl looked, she was surrounded by people. Camera shutters could be heard across the room— it was as if an A-list celebrity had walked in. Seulgi wasn’t so surprised  because whoever she was looked absolutely stunning even if the bear-like girl only managed to see a glimpse.

 

“Ahreum-ssi!”

 

“Look over here please, senpai!”

 

“STEP ON ME PLEASE!”

 

Screams from fans could be heard from every corner of the venue. The flock of people only seemed to grow as time passed. Seulgi glanced towards Moonbyul who was grinning widely, her eyes focused on the crowd that surrounded this “Ahreum” person.

 

Seulgi, on the other hand, was rather confused.

 

“I thought your eyes were only for Solar unnie,” Seulgi pouted, and that seemed to snap Moonbyul out of her trance.

 

“They still are!” Moonbyul retorted, “I’d gouge my eyes out and give them to her if she asked me to,” She continued, puffing her chest in confidence. Seulgi raised a brow.

 

“Yeah, sure. So why were you staring—” The bear-like girl was interrupted by a loud voice.

 

“Hey, back up! Please give us some space!“ A loud voice boomed from the center of the crowd, but it seemed to have no effect on the crowd. The tall man was already flailing his arms, asking people to give them space, but to no avail. Seulgi felt bad for him, as he seemed to be exhausted.

 

“Excuse us,” An authoritative yet soft voice rang in the air, silencing the whole venue. In an instant, the path for the newcomers had opened.

 

Almost everyone within the vicinity of the group that had just arrived had their jaws hanging as the woman who had just spoke walked forward, her heels clacking as the rest of the group followed behind her like obedient puppies.

 

“Is she Moses or something?” Moonbyul mumbled while Seulgi remained with her jaw hanging, observing the ethereal features of the snow white girl who had managed to silence a whole venue.

 

When their eyes met, Seulgi couldn’t find it in herself to look away, even if the bear-like girl knew she was beet red from her cheeks to the tips of her ears. A small lopsided smirk found its way to snow white’s face, biting her lip as she winked at Seulgi. If not for her standing close to a pillar, the bear-like girl was sure that she’d fall to her knees, reminding her of a certain someone as she continued to gape at the cosplayer before she disappeared into the depths of the convention hall.

 

Amongst the loud camera shutters and the chatter that came after the cosplayer was out of view, Seulgi was left paralyzed. Unbeknownst to the bear-like girl, Moonbyul was sporting a shit-eating grin as she whipped her phone out to contact her allies. The team leader was sure that Seulgi and her rose-tinted glasses wouldn’t able to spot the shock that painted Ahreum’s features before she winked at her, pretending to have her shit together.

 

Before Moonbyul could even finish typing her message, the team leader felt a strong tug on her sleeve.

 

“Do…d-do you know…” Seulgi started slowly. Moonbyul finished the last part of her message before looking at her child, mock concern on her features.

 

“What is it, Seulbear?” She asked as she completely faced the girl.

 

“Who she is?” She finished, swallowing as she tried to keep herself sane. Moonbyul knew that struggle all too well and smiled at the younger girl.

 

“Yup. That’s Ahreum-ssi. Bogum, our team’s producer, is her manager. If you can’t tell, she’s really popular around these types of events, and it's not just because she’s pretty,” The team leader filled in, her smile growing wilder as she spotted Jisoo, Joy, and Yeri from a distance, the chaotic trio walking towards them with devious smirks on their faces.

 

“Oh,” Was all Seulgi could say as she stared into the distance. Moonbyul slightly pitied her child, for she was rendered a useless lesbian once again.

 

“Press F to pay respects. RIP in peace, Seulgi,” Yeri yelled as they approached.

 

“You know you said rest in peace in peace, right?” Joy questioned as the young artist snorted, saying something along the lines of _ “that’s the point!”,  _ leaving the tall barista befuddled.

 

“Cutie! What happened to you?” Jisoo greeted as she held onto Seulgi’s arm, helping her stand up straight. Yeri could only guffaw at the sight of the bear-like girl.

 

“I-I…” Seulgi tried to start.

 

“Was it Ahreum-ssi? I thought you liked my sister, though. She seemed to be  _ so  _ into you after all,” Jisoo revealed with a cute pout on her face. That seemed to wake the barista up, rose colored hues already accentuating her face.

 

“N-no! I-I just… wasn’t ready,” The bear-like girl tried to reason.

 

“I wouldn’t blame her, because  _ goddamn _ ,” Joy wolf whistled, earning a shove from Yerim. The taller girl apologized briefly before facing Seulgi once more.

 

“But if you liked that, Yerim here told me there’s more to come,” Joy smirked, although Seulgi seemed to still be drawing a blank.

 

“Yup, we’ll convert you two into weebs in no time,” Moonbyul looked to both Seulgi and Jisoo, completely out of their element.

 

“As if, I’m only here because Jendeukie designed Ahreum’s outfit. And if Hyunnie hasn’t been able to convert me after all these years, I doubt you can do anything about it,” Jisoo said proudly as she crossed her arms.

 

“Oh but aren’t you already playing that anime rhythm game on your phone with Wheein?” Moonbyul shot back.

 

“That doesn’t count!” The preppy girl retorted while Yeri snickered.   
  


“Sure it doesn’t,” The team leader replied sarcastically, “Anyway, why don’t you guys head over to a maid cafe or something? Food always helps whenever Seulgi’s like this. I’ll go talk to Bogum and see if he can introduce us to Ahreum-ssi later since Seulbear here seems smitten.” 

 

Moonbyul winked at the chaotic gays who seemed to have gotten the message completely before she spun around and left. Seulgi was still in a daze as the trio dragged her across the convention hall.

 

* * *

 

 

“So Red Velvet is an anime, and it gets its name from the main group in the series that’s also called Red Velvet,” Marshmell explained, having joined the chaotic gays plus the useless lesbian not so long after they had gotten a seat at the maid cafe, “The group consists of the five main characters, Baechu, Wendy, Gomdori, Katy, and Sexy Dynamite,” Before Marshmell could continue, Jisoo nearly spat out her coffee.

 

“Wait, is that serious? What kind of—” The senior artist cut the preppy girl off. Joy was busy laughing her ass off at the name  _ Sexy Dynamite _ .

 

“It’s anime, something’s bound to be a little strange,” Marshmell said. Jisoo looked towards Yeri for an explanation, but she had only shrugged in reply.

 

“Every day we stray away from the light…” Jisoo mumbled to herself, seemingly disappointed as she swirled her coffee around, ruining the remains of the cute latte cat that once sat atop of the drink.

 

“Anyway, so these five are supernaturals in a post-apocalyptic world where its either kill or be killed. There’s a catch though, these guys don’t fight with their magic powers or abnormal abilities…” The senior artist paused for dramatic effect. Yeri rolled her eyes at that while Seulgi was abnormally attentive.

 

“They fight with the power of music and dance!” At that Jisoo completely spat her coffee onto the floor, causing frowns of disapproval from everyone who was near them.

 

“HAHAHAHAHAH!” Jisoo guffawed, “That is the  _ stupidest _ —” before she could even continue, Yeri jumped out of her set opposite the preppy girl and shoved a scone down her throat. Joy’s frappe shot out of her nose, and ended up laughing and choking as she witnessed the spectacle. Seulgi was silent, but looked absolutely mortified as she patted Jisoo’s back.

 

“You  _ idiot! _ You can’t say that here! The fans will literally kill you,” Marshmell was uncharacteristically serious.

 

“Despite how weird it sounds, though,” Yeri started, ignoring the Irene-like glare being sent her way by Jisoo, “It’s actually a pretty good series,” The young artist sipped on her drink.

 

“So who was Ahreum-ssi cosplaying as, then?” Seulgi had finally spoken up, the gears in her brain now turning properly.

 

“Of course that’s your first question,” Joy said flatly as she dabbed her mouth with tissue, pretending that absolutely ungraceful happened just moments ago.

 

“She’s dressed up as Baechu, the fallen angel. I think I saw Wendy the vampire right behind her when they entered too, but I don’t know who the cosplayer is… She’s probably new,” The senior artist said, briefly contemplating as she munched on a cupcake.

 

The rowdy group continued to converse, albeit much more peaceful than moments ago.

 

Well as peaceful as it could get, Seulgi thought as she listened in for a while, eventually leaving the group to go to the washroom.

 

* * *

 

 

As the crowds seemed to disperse, and the excitement of the event seemed to die down a little now that almost all the cosplayers were preparing for the competition, Irene decided to head for the washroom before she lost the chance to. It wasn’t that she disliked her supporters, though. The cosplayer, despite her confident and cold persona as Ahreum was still overwhelmed by the amount of people that would crowd around her.

 

It was too much sometimes, if she were completely honest. But she loved the idea of having some sort of mask that allowed her to be anything— anyone she wanted to be. When Bogum had jokingly brought the idea up when they were still in college, she didn’t think she’d take it so seriously. Internally chuckling at how ridiculous things turned out to be, the bewitching cosplayer failed to notice the person in front of her as she walked. 

 

“Oh! Sorry,” Out came Ahreum’s voice, not sparing much of a glance at who she had bumped into, moving a few steps back because of the impact. When she had only received absolute silence in reply, the cosplayer averted her gaze towards who she had bumped into.

 

It was deja vu all over again for Irene met the brown, cat-like eyes of the most beautiful person she’d ever seen.

 

The angel’s jaw was slack as she stood completely still, and as much as Irene would’ve wanted to do the same, she realized that she wasn’t Irene at the moment.

 

She could do something.

  
Probably.

 

Hopefully.

 

Irene bit her lip, hoping that whatever acting tips and tricks Jisoo tried to ingrain in her head stayed there.

 

A smirk overtook Ahreum’s features as she sauntered closer to the slack-jawed girl, lifting the fallen jaw with a finger.

 

“It wouldn’t hurt to be a bit more careful, hm? Wouldn’t want you to fall so hard for me, now would we?” The sultry voice seemed to have done the trick, as Seulgi’s expression looked like she had been dunked with a bucket full of ice cold water.

 

“Er, um, uh—” The girl tried to regain her sanity. Ahreum continued to watch her with a perfect brow raised.

 

“You look familiar?” Seulgi tilted her head cutely. If she were Irene right now, she would’ve died.

 

But Ahreum is a stronger woman.

 

Or that’s what she’d like to believe in.

 

“Do I? Is it because you’ve seen me in your dreams?” The cosplayer said, and her words seemed to have visibly affected the cute angel even more as she pointedly tried to avoid Ahreum’s piercing gaze.

 

“Um, no, no! It’s not like that!” Seulgi waved her hands in the air, her head shaking. 

 

_ Well, that was new.  _ Ahreum thought. No one has ever responded to her like this before. Especially not when she was obviously flirting with them.

 

“I t-think I know what you’re doing, but um, I like someone else, s-sorry... B-but you’re really pretty though, a-and you remind me of someone I know!” The angel said a bit too loudly as she stuttered, her voice ringing in the cosplayer’s ears due to their proximity.

 

“Oh, is that so?” Ahreum wasn’t used to being rejected, but she supposed she should give up with some grace in tact. 

 

“Yup! She’s the best and maybe I’m being too fast about it, but I think I really like her… ” Seulgi rambled. Leave it to the angel to overshare to a complete stranger. The cosplayer briefly wondered if anyone had taken advantage of her with how she is, but decided that she’d personally see to it that no one ever does in a heartbeat.

 

“But anyway,” Seulgi suddenly perked up, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she chanced a glance at the cosplayer’s pretty blue eyes that seemed to pay close attention to her. “Good luck on the competition! I’m kind of new to all of this, but friends were rooting for you, so I’ll do the same!” Gorgeous cat eyes smiled at Ahreum, and the cosplayer wasn’t sure if her persona could survive any longer.

 

“See you around, Ahreum-ssi! Fighting!” The angel smiled encouragingly and bowed politely before taking her leave.

 

Ahreum quickly reverted back to Irene as she locked herself into a bathroom stall, her heart thundering like the first time she’d ever laid eyes on Seulgi. Her lips moved on their own accord as they split into the widest smile she’d ever sported.

 

She can’t be overloading now, of all times!  



	6. Blue Screen

Even though Seulgi had rejected Ahreum’s advances towards her, the bear-like girl continued to support her nonetheless. It was flattering, for someone as beautiful as Ahreum to even notice her presence, Seulgi thought to herself as she was being dragged by Jisoo to where the stage was. Unsurprisingly, Moonbyul was already there along with Bogum waiting for their arrival.

 

As soon as the competition had started, and the hosts had finished their respective introductions, Seulgi discovered that Wendy was actually Seungwan, or at least that’s what Moonbyul told her. The bear-like girl wasn’t so sure since she only briefly saw her when they were entering the convention. When Seulgi tried to inquire about Irene’s whereabouts, however, the blinding lights from the stage flashed, revealing the cosplayers strutting confidently on the runway. 

 

Loud applause and cheers from the crowd could be heard with each passing model, and the bear-like girl finally realized that Wendy was indeed Seungwan based on her expressive eyes alone. Seulgi grinned and tried her best to wave at Wannie, admiring how beautifully her dress was made, and how it complemented her jewelry. 

 

The game designer definitely looked like a royal vampire with how her dark red lipstick contrasted so well with her pale skin. The bear-like girl looked towards her friends who were all screaming for Wendy like there was no tomorrow, and decided to join them as well.

 

When their screams died down, the last model had come out from the smoke and shadows. Seulgi’s jaw slacked when she witnessed Ahreum, dressed up as the fallen angel Baechu saunter forward. It seemed that she wasn’t alone, either, for the whole venue seemed to have gone completely silent. Only the incessant camera shutters could be heard as a pair of wings had suddenly extended from the cosplayer’s back, mesmerizing the whole audience as the dark, tattered wings shimmered against the stage lights. The fallen angel was exuding confidence that no other competitor seemed to have as she spun, showing off her intricately designed ensemble— and Seulgi could’ve sworn Ahreum was in slow motion all of a sudden— and returned backstage.

 

Seulgi let out a breath, unaware that she had held it in the first place.

 

As if on cue, the crowd roared, louder than it had ever been previously. Clapping, whistles and messages of support (if you counted “If Ahreum punched me in the face, I’d thank her!” as such,) could be heard all around the convention grounds.

 

“Wow,” Was all she could say. Behind her, Moonbyul and Bogum were sporting shit-eating grins.

 

“My Jendeuk really outdid herself this time,” Jisoo said breathlessly, ignoring everyone else.

 

“Damn, none of them stood a chance. That’s our Ahreum!” Bogum whistled, grinning like there was no tomorrow. Seulgi couldn’t help but agree— Ahreum was simply a whole staircase above the rest. If Irene were a bit more confident and into cosplay, Seulgi mused, she’d be able to beat Ahreum easily. 

 

“You’re just happy that you have a wingwoman today in the form of Ahreum-ssi. But let’s be real— she’ll steal all yo’ girls,” Marshmell quipped, laughing at the producer who was now frowning.

 

“Psh, joke’s on you, she only seems to have eyes for Seulgi-ssi today,” Bogum commented, smirking at Seulgi.

 

“M-me?” The bear-like girl pointed to herself.

 

“Yeah she talked to you, right? You told me that you bumped into her a while ago,” Joy asked, raising a brow.

 

“You even said that she made a move on you too!” Marshmell said loudly. It was as if she wanted everyone in the venue know what had happened. 

 

“Uh-huh, but I um…” Seulgi fidgeted nervously as all of her friends’ eyes were on her.

 

“Don’t tell me you actually rejected _ The Ahreum, _ of all people!” Yeri gasped exaggeratedly.

 

“Yeah, I um, well, IkindoflikeIreneunniealreadyimsorry!” Seulgi mumbled out at top speed. Moonbyul’s brows raised and Jisoo was trying her best not to scream on the spot.

 

“Huh, you should try rapping sometime, Seulbear. I think you’d do well,” The team leader commented as she crossed her arms, ignoring the distress on her child’s face.

 

“That’s not the point!” Jisoo yelled, pulling on her own hair, and then roughly shoving Moonbyul with her shoulder.

 

“Shh!” Before Seulgi could even have the chance to ask her what the point was, Joy had shushed all of them, her eyes focused on the stage as the competition continued. Yeri grinned victoriously as she leaned on the tall barista, watching the contest unfold.

 

* * *

 

It was no surprise that Ahreum had won first place, both by popularity and by the judges’ scores. And Seulgi was sure that it wasn’t  _ just _ because she was attractive. The bear-like girl had a newfound admiration for the cosplayer. Her acting skills on stage were spectacular, and she wore her outfit like a queen. She thought that Ahreum’s victory was well deserved, and so did her fans.

 

Although, even if Ahreum did win first place and admittedly made Seulgi speechless more than once, the bear-like girl knew that a certain goddess would always be first in her heart.

 

…

..

.

 

Seulgi outwardly cringed at her own thoughts, and briefly contemplated on whether she should stop hanging around her fake dad so much.

 

When she had shook her previous thoughts away, she saw Joy, Yeri, and Marshmell bid their goodbyes to the group. The bear-like girl heard the words “too long” and “not patient enough” from Yeri, and understood that they were too lazy to wait for the victors to emerge from the crowd. Joy turned to Seulgi to ask if she wanted to go ahead as well, but the bear-like girl refused, wanting to congratulate the winners for their hard work.

 

While Wannie had only bagged third place, Bogum revealed that it was her first time to even compete. Seulgi hadn’t known Seungwan for a long time, but she was proud of her nonetheless. Jennie had also bagged awards, as she was the costume designer for both Wannie’s and Ahreum’s outfits, and Seulgi could see the proudest expression on Jisoo’s face as she eagerly waited for her girlfriend to show up.

 

Seulgi couldn’t help but feel a bit envious, for Jennie was definitely a lucky girl to have such a supportive girlfriend like Jisoo. The bear-like girl’s thoughts were cut short when she spotted Ahreum’s face coming out of the crowd. With a smile, Seulgi tried to approach the bewitching cosplayer.

 

Unfortunately life had other plans, and Seulgi had nearly crashed into someone.

 

“Hey there beautiful, what’s the rush?” Seulgi’s eyes met the sultry gaze of a cosplayer. She was… Sexy Dynamite, if the bear-like girl’s memory was correct. As ridiculous as the name was, Seulgi had to admit that the cosplayer had definitely captured the title with her thigh high boots and skin tight rainbow dress.

 

“Er, um…” Seulgi had never really been flirted with this often before, nor was she actually as smooth as she presented herself to Irene, so she had no idea how to respond to that.

 

“Cat got your tongue?” The tall cosplayer giggled melodiously. “I’m Sunmi, by the way,” She introduced, leaning closer towards Seulgi.

 

“And you are?”

  
  


* * *

 

 

Just as Ahreum managed to settle her wilder fans, she spotted a familiar figure in the distance. Focusing her gaze towards the figure, she quickly discovered that it was none other than the object of her affections…

 

And she appeared to be flirting with  _ Sunmi, _ of all people. That woman was the biggest flirt she’d ever met.

 

The bewitching cosplayer rolled her eyes, her calm expression cracking under her mask. Even if Ahreum felt dead tired, the emotions bubbling at the back of her mind seemed to give her enough energy to loudly strut towards the couple, ignoring the odd and scared looks she’d receive from the people around her.

 

“Yours,” Ahreum said in a clipped tone, immediately catching Seulgi’s attention.

 

Before Seulgi could even properly process those words, Irene took Seulgi’s wrist and pulled her in for a kiss.

 

If she weren’t under the guise of Ahreum, Irene’s pretty sure she wouldn’t have survived the bear-like girl’s plush lips and lemony scent.

 

Loud gasps were heard all around the convention hall. When Ahreum broke the kiss, she glared at Sunmi.

  
“I-I—” Seulgi was left red faced and speechless. Her eyes were bulging out of her sockets and her pupils were blown as she stared at the bewitching cosplayer.

 

“Oh my god, unnie! I’m so sorry! I didn’t know she was—” Sunmi’s expression changed— she looked absolutely terrified, quickly trying to make amends. Ahreum ignored her, however, and dragged a mute Seulgi towards the dressing rooms.

 

“Holy shit!”

  
  
“I told you she had the moves!”

 

“WHAT THE FUCK!?”

 

* * *

 

Seulgi and Irene practically stumbled into the dressing room with how fast Irene dragged the bear-like girl. Tossing away her alter ego, Irene began to ramble, unaware of bright eyes shimmering in recognition.

 

“Fuck, I’m so, so sorry. I didn’t know what got into me— I didn’t even ask for your, I just, fuck sorr—” 

 

“Mm!”

 

Irene was shushed by a pair of plush lips. Seulgi kissed her with vigor, pulling the cosplayer closer until their fronts pressed up against each other. If Irene was on overdrive moments ago, she was sure that she was overheating now.

 

“It’s okay. I’m sorry it took me a while to recognize you, Irene unnie...” Seulgi whispered, leaning her forehead on the developer gently. Her eyes crinkled as she smiled, the light blush on her cheeks only making her look even more attractive. Irene wasn’t sure if she could take any more of Seulgi just being her adorable and loveable self.

 

“I really like you too,” Seulgi was as bright as the sun as she smiled at the developer, warm hands rubbing comforting circles on cold ones.

 

The light seemed to get brighter and brighter until Irene couldn’t see her angel anymore. 

 

She supposed that this was an acceptable way to go, knowing that the angel she admired reciprocated her feelings as well. She didn’t even have to refer to her flowchart to understand that!

 

What a miracle indeed.

 

“shutdown /s,” Were Irene’s final words before departing.

 

“Irene?!”

 

“Irene!”

 

* * *

 

“Irene!” Seulgi panicked, her voice booming into the dressing room as she clutched onto Irene’s limp form. The bear-like girl struggled to get a grip on the developer with the large wings behind her getting in the way of Seulgi’s hold.

 

Not long after, a group of people made their way into the dressing room. Seulgi didn’t bother to look at who had entered, as she was too caught up with trying to hold on to Irene.

 

“Your Irene ran into an error, and needs to restart,” Bogum droned, startling Seulgi. He held up a sheet of paper with a sad emoji printed on it. Jisoo snorted loudly, realizing that he had actually saw this coming. 

 

“It must be because of the kiss, damn,” Moonbyul mumbled. At the word ‘kiss,’ Seulgi’s mind blanked, and her face colored. Now all she could think about was what she had done, and that Irene was the one who made the first move.

 

_ Irene made the first move. _

 

“But don’t worry, Seulgi-ssi, we’ll restart her for you!” Seungwan chirped, oblivious to Seulgi’s dazed state as Jisoo and Bogum collected the fallen angel. Jennie quickly moved forward to unclip the large wings on Irene’s back so that the unconscious developer could be lifted up properly.

 

“The process of restarting such a complex machine may take a day. We hope you’re patient,” Bogum continued, with Wannie wishing his hands were free so they could high five over their surprisingly synchronized improvisation.

 

“Be safe on the way home, Seulbear! I called Solar to pick you up,” Moonbyul grinned happily as the group left with Irene in tow. If Seulgi had more of her brain cells intact, she would’ve told her that she was a grown up that was perfectly capable of going home on her own.

 

But she didn’t, and her three brain cells were trying their best once more as Seulgi had her mouth agape for the nth time that day, her knees once again giving up on her as she landed on the cold, hard floor.

 

Seulgi didn’t really mind falling so hard for Irene, especially when she knew that her feelings were very much reciprocated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh would you look at that, i found time (thesis? whats that? :') ) to actually write another chapter this month lmao. With that, I'd like to say that the next chapter will also be the last. I hope you guys enjoyed reading so far!


	7. Hello, World!

Today was not Seulgi’s day.

 

Because of  _ The Kiss, _ the poor bear-like girl could barely sleep nor function properly. Her head was constantly replaying the events of yesterday. As much as Irene had (sort of) responded to her advances which consisted of terribly greasy lines, Seulgi wasn’t prepared for the goddess to actually  _ kiss  _ her. In public, even! Just the thought of it was unbelievable.

 

But it was real, no matter how unbelievable it all seemed.

 

Which led Seulgi to her current situation: an hour late to work, and her hair deciding that today was the day she’d evolve from a teddy bear to a lion.

 

As soon as the bear-turned-lioness arrived at the cafe, she quickly attempted to fix herself and get ready for work. In her panic, she didn’t realize that Solar was already helping her tame her hair, and Joy was watching the scene amusedly.

 

“You okay Seul?” Solar asked, fixing the nametag on Seulgi’s apron.

 

“Yeah, I’m sorry I overslept… I just—”

 

“Don’t worry about it, dear. With how you were yesterday, I’m more surprised you managed to make it here,” Solar smiled, affectionately squishing the sides of Seulgi’s face as the taller struggled to get out of the strong hold.

 

“You’re all grown up now and I’m so proud of you! If your girlfriend hurts you, tell me, okay? I’m not afraid of committing first degree murd—”

 

“Mom pweeesh staahp,” Seulgi breathed and squirmed a bit before continuing, “She’s not my girlfriend… yet,” The bear-like girl interrupted, struggling to speak as Solar’s hands pushed further into her fluffy cheeks.

 

“I don’t think friends kiss like that, Seul. But I guess you should talk about what happened first before anything,” Solar said and Seulgi attempted to nod.

 

“You’re going to end up flattening Seulgi’s face, unnie,” Joy said nonchalantly as she drew a little smiley face on a cup full of coffee, capping the sharpie with one hand and handing the beverage to Hwasa with the other.

 

“Oh! Sorry, sorry! I didn’t think I was squeezing so strongly Seulbear,” Solar apologized as Seulgi gingerly held onto her aching cheeks, with a look of betrayal on her face.

 

“Anyway, you should be getting to work. I’ll see you guys later,” Solar smiled, pinching Seulgi’s cheek one last time before leaving.

 

“Seul, hand over the orders for me? I’ll take the counter,” Joy said, gesturing to the food and drinks on the counter.

 

“Okay,” Seulgi simply said before reading the receipt of the first order. “Coffee for Yerim?” She echoed into the cafe. Yerim sprung up, seemingly out of nowhere with how fast she had bounded to the counter, a happy grin plastered on her face.

 

“You seem to be in a good mood, Yeri,” Seulgi said and smiled as she handed over her coffee and a paper bag with the rest of her order. 

 

“Yup! The AC’s finally fixed! I don’t have to see sunlight anymore!” Yeri said, much too enthusiastic than what the bear-like girl was used to seeing. 

 

“What do you mean…?” Seulgi mumbled, her eyes scanning through the cafe.

 

“We already moved back to the office a while ago, unnie. I’m just here to get everyone something to drink since I lost the game,” The young artist clarified, and huffed at remembering how she had lost at a game of rock paper scissors, of all things. “You kinda missed everyone say goodbye, but that’s okay, we’re just like a block away from you guys. You can flirt all you want with Irene during your breaks,” Yeri joked encouragingly, knowing how Seulgi would react to the news. 

 

However, that still didn’t stop Seulgi’s mood from dampening even further.

 

“Oh, but Irene called in sick today soo maybe you’d want to try that tomorrow,” Yeri said absentmindedly as an afterthought.

 

Today was not Seulgi’s day at all.

 

* * *

 

Seulgi’s misfortune seemed to continue after that day.

  
Irene didn’t drop by at the cafe, nor was she there whenever Seulgi tried to visit her. 

 

Seulgi wanted to believe it was because Irene was sick, but when she saw the goddess walking with Bogum on the way to their office in the second week of her sudden disappearance, she felt a little ache in her heart that wasn’t there before.

 

* * *

 

“Irene, I know you’re not sick!” Wannie yelled. Bogum could have smashed the door with how hard he was knocking.

 

Still, no response.

 

The producer and game designer sighed. Well, it looked like they had no choice.

 

“You aren’t sick! You’re just a useless lesbian that couldn’t pray the gay away!” Wendy screamed, not caring whether the neighbors would hear him. Before she could start yelling again, Bogum and Wannie were aggressively yanked into the house.

 

“Why. Are. You. Both. Like. This.” Irene said, her hands holding onto their collars with an iron grip for a while, letting them go when her arms had started to ache.

 

“We should be asking you that! Seriously, what are you doing? Do you want Solar to murder you in your sleep?!” Bogum said, his volume increasing as he spoke. 

 

“What—”

 

“Your useless lesbian ass,” Wannie breathed, “is hurting Seulgi. She’s been waiting for you, for how long now?!”

 

“...I-I didn’t mean to, I just—” It was only then that Seungwan and Bogum noticed how disheveled and tired Irene actually looked. It made them feel a bit bad, but they both knew that the bear-like girl still had the shorter end of the stick regardless. The poor girl didn’t even know what was going on.

 

“You better have a good explanation, Joohyun. We’re all on the TSPS,” Bogum said in a serious tone, stepping forward confidently.

 

“TSPS?” Irene tilted her head slightly, squinting her eyes.

 

“The Seulgi Protection Squad.”

 

Irene took a deep breath and massaged her temples.

 

“This isn’t a joke! We will protect Seulgi at all costs, even from you!” Seungwan said with conviction as she rested her hands on her hips.

 

“I’m not trying to hurt her, I’m just...” Irene had suddenly walked away from the rowdy duo, grabbing what looked to be a VR headset.

 

“Here. Tell me what you think,” She shoved the headset towards Bogum and crossed her arms. The producer shot her a skeptical look, but wore the headset anyway.

 

“Is this…” Bogum said almost breathless, completely in awe as he craned his neck around.

 

“You… wow,” The producer breathed out. The headset was covering most of his face, but you could tell that he was amazed. Wannie looked confused when Bogum swiftly removed the headset and slammed it into Seungwan’s head.

 

“Bogum, what the—”

 

“YOOOOOOO!” Wannie hollered loudly, much to Irene’s shock and annoyance. The developer had her arms crossed, with her cheeks unmistakably red as she tried to hide how high she must’ve jumped at the noise.

 

“Where can I get an Irene? I want like, ten of them. Also I suck for doubting you, sorry,” Bogum commented, evidently unapologetic as his  face was still full of astonishment. Irene rolled her eyes.

 

“It isn’t that great...” Irene rolled her eyes, watching Seungwan lift the headset off of her head. 

 

“WHAT?! BAE JOOHYUN, HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT!” Seungwan shouted, as she stomped towards the slightly taller woman.

 

“THIS WAS AMAZING. WHY DIDN’T YOU JUST TELL US YOU MADE A GAME FOR SEULGI JUST TO ASK HER OUT?! WE THOUGHT YOU WERE RUNNING AWAY!” Wannie was on loudspeaker at this point, and Irene really wished that the game designer had a built-in volume knob somewhere.

 

“I wouldn’t do that. I just, didn’t know how to…” The developer trailed off, the whirring gears in her mind audible to her closest friends who could only smile at Irene.

 

“Don’t know how to?! This here, is the  _ only _ way to ask someone out. No wonder I’m still single, I’ve been doing it wrong my whole life,” Bogum crossed his arms and nodded, complete conviction written on his face.

 

“I agree, because  _ wow _ . You don’t even have backlog from work this week. I swear, sometimes I think Moonbyul isn’t lying when she says you’re a goddess. Seungwan said in amazement until something clicked in her mind.

 

“Wait, that explains you either staying at home or going overtime for the past few—” Wannie’s eyes widened in realization. Irene heaved a sigh, knowing what was to come when her best friend begins to look like a cartoon character.

 

“Holy shit!” Bogum said loudly, rudely cutting Seungwan off.

 

“That means you haven’t gone out in, like, forever!” Bogum exclaimed. Irene was already rolling her eyes as he continued to speak. “That means we need to go out right now!”

 

“Bogum, you already know that I don’t have a life!” A grumpy Irene stomped, glaring at her childhood friend.

 

“Get dressed!” He screamed, his arms flailing dumbly.

 

“—and I’d like to keep it that-” Irene made the mistake of closing her eyes for a second too long as she was shoved into Seungwan’s arms.

 

“Nope! We’re getting you a life!” Wannie yelled, dragging Irene towards her room.

 

“WAIT!” The developer yelled, quickly realizing that the two demons she called friends already had some sort of plan ready.

 

* * *

 

“Was I something I said?” A small voice muttered. Seulgi and Joy had just ended their shift at the cafe, walking together. Joy had noticed how much Irene’s disappearance had affected her best friend, and the younger barista just wanted to strangle the hot and cold woman.

 

“Nah, I think she’s just a bitch for leaving you with all of these mixed signals,” Joy replied back, the fire slowly being fanned at the back of her head the more she kept seeing the once joyful bear act like this.

 

“Moonbyul unnie just told me to give her some time but… Maybe she didn’t really like me so much. I think I was too forward and scared her off,” Seulgi said, her eyes focused on the ground.

 

“Psh, Byul unnie was  _ way _ too forward, but did that scare Solar unnie off?” Joy shot back as she grabbed the bear-like girl’s arm to pull her in closer.

 

“It didn’t…” The barista mumbled as she shook her head.

 

“Yeah, it didn’t. The right person wouldn’t be so scared. Maybe I’m judging her too soon, since we never really talked that much before, but I hate seeing you like this. Where’s the cuddly, sunny Seulbear we all love?” Joy nudged Seulgi, but received no response.

 

“You know, Seul, your world shouldn’t revolve around her,” Joy said, pushing her best friend’s face up to face her own.

 

“There’s so much more to the world that just one girl. I think you should know that more than anyone,” The taller woman smiled gently, a smile reserved for those closest to her. 

 

“I do?” Seulgi’s voice was still small, and it tore a bit of Joy’s heart. Not that she’d let her know, of course.

 

“Yup. You’re the only person I know whose face lights up like I’ve given you the stars when really, it’s just a can of pringles,” The taller woman chuckled, watching Seulgi’s lips turn into an adorable pout.

 

“Don’t you dare diss my pringles!” The bear-like girl practically yelled.

 

“See? You can wait for her, and I won’t— no I can’t really stop you, but she isn’t your world, okay? All those ‘you’re my world’ shit in dramas are complete bullshit,” Joy remarked bitterly, earning a chuckle from Seulgi.

 

“Who hurt you?” Seulgi suddenly shot back with a silly grin on her face. Joy smiled back at that, but she couldn’t help but shout.

 

“Hey!” At that, the bear-like girl began to run.

 

“Get back here! I feel so attacked!” Joy chased the incredibly fast bear. Inside, she was happy that her best friend seemed to be back on her feet.

 

* * *

 

“Where are we going?!” Irene yelled, uncharacteristically loud while Bogum drove.

 

“If I tell you, will you shut up?” Seungwan asked, turning her head to face the eldest-turned-5 year old who was sitting in the backseat.

 

“I’ll lower my volume!” The developer obnoxiously bellowed. Bogum sweared colorfully, shocked at Irene’s loudness as he drove. Seungwan rolled her eyes. 

 

_ If only Seulgi could see this Irene, then maybe she’d have some second thoughts…  _ Wendy mused.

 

“We’re taking dance lessons,” Wannie simply said. Bogum was amused at the fact that it seemed their roles had been switched.

 

“What!? I don’t need that in my life, get me out of here—”

 

“Yes you do! What if Seulgi asks for a dance? Because you know, she’s a dancer right? You’re fucked!” Bogum joined in, hoping that Seungwan doesn’t realize that they’re lost because the navigator app on his phone confused him.

 

“... She wouldn’t. I’m sure she hates me now..” The developer turned back into her silent self, wallowing in regret for not even trying to contact Seulgi even though she had yet to get her number. She completely forgot that social media existed with how laser focused she was on making her game.

 

“Pshh, I don’t think that girl can hate anyone. Stop overthinking things, and stop trying to map out a new flowchart in your head, you nerd,” Seungwan said and grinned at Irene.

 

“I’ll try not to,” The developer mumbled softly, more to herself than anything.

 

“Aaaand we’re here! I think,” Bogum suddenly exclaimed, shocking the sensitive developer. Seungwan chuckled as Irene hit her head on the roof of the car. The game designed wondered how high she must’ve jumped to even reach the car’s ceiling with her height.

 

“Wait, I still didn’t agree to this—”

 

“Sorry hun, we don’t care if you checked the stupid ‘I agree to the Terms and Conditions’ box or not. Now let’s go!” Bogum said enthusiastically, getting out of the car with a loud slam.

 

Irene breathed out a sigh.

 

She was going to die.

* * *

 

Seulgi tried her best to remain professional. The keyword was  _ tried _ , because when Irene came walking in wearing workout clothes her jaw practically dropped to the floor. Even though the goddess had practically broken her heart with how long she had waited, the developer was still drop dead gorgeous nonetheless. Joy had to glare at her and slap her arm just to get her back to her senses.

 

“You didn’t tell me that she was one of the new students!” Seulgi whispered to Joy in a panic, in hopes that she wasn’t heard.

 

“Oh, would you look at that? She still exists!” Joy said with a devilish grin on your face.

 

“Park Sooyoung what have you—”

 

“Yeri’s the mastermind, don’t blame me! Anyway, don’t you have a class to teach, Kang-ssi?” Joy cut her off joyfully as she pushed the bear-like girl towards her students.

 

“Okay, so we have some new students today. Come forward and introduce yourselves before we begin,” Seulgi said to compose herself, her signature eye smile on display as she tried to keep herself in check.

 

Once the newbies had introduced themselves, (Seulgi did  _ not  _ struggle to keep her mouth closed when Irene started to speak, even if Sooyoung would say otherwise as she snickered and left the bear to her own devices, while still reminding her of their earlier conversation like the best friend she was.) The bear-like girl had explained they’d try a slightly different style than their previous sessions.

 

Since her class was just a beginner’s class, she opted for something a bit slower. Or you know, that’s what she’d like to say as an excuse after watching approximately five minutes into Red Velvet’s first episode, then quickly opening a new tab to just search for the anime’s music after the opening tune rolled in, and falling in love with Bad Boy so much that she  _ couldn’t _ just leave it be without creating some sort of choreography for it.

 

It was just pure coincidence that Baechu seemed to be here just when she was about to introduce it to the class.

 

“We’ll be dancing to a segment of a song called Bad Boy by Red Velvet. It’s pretty slow compared to what we’ve been dancing previously, but the moves are quite a step up from last time. I’ll be demonstrating the choreo first, and then we’ll break it down step by step,” Seulgi said simply, receiving hums of approval from her students. The bear-like girl then made sure her phone was connected to the studio’s bluetooth sound system, and handed her phone to one of her older students, with him already knowing what to do.

 

The bear-like girl breathed in and faced the mirror, taking a quick glance at her students who were observing her and nodded her head.

 

The music played, and Seulgi began.

 

* * *

 

Watching Seulgi dance was like a work of art. She was graceful yet sharp, fluid yet snappy. It was clear she gave it her all even if she was just a demo for the class. But what made Seulgi’s choreography stand out wasn’t just the precise movements, it was also her expression. Her whole body was radiating the fierce and slow sultriness the song brought out.

 

On a surface level, many would find Seulgi unfairly attractive with her perfectly sculpted abs on display as she wore a crop top with ‘baby girl’ written in the center and tight leggings, but pushing past that, Irene saw how much passion the bear-like girl had for dancing. It was admirable, and the developer couldn't help but fall a bit more in love. 

 

When Irene looked into her eyes for a brief moment, she found the choreographer staring right back at her from the mirror with dark and expressive eyes. Irene bit her lip. Joy was definitely not wrong about Seulgi.

 

When the music stopped, Seulgi transformed back into her adorable and bubbly self as she began to teach each step patiently to the class.

 

And this is where Irene began to worry. How was she supposed to deal with Seulgi, or with her best friends for that matter? She already (sort of) knew how to dance, and the moves Seulgi just demonstrated was just for one minute of the song with fairly simple steps. The developer knew she was a bit rusty, but she was worried that she’d learn it too fast.

 

She just never brought her love for dance up to her closest friends since it was just a hobby she picked up, along with her many other interests. (Irene had probably never told them either, because before Ahreum came to fruition, she had a youtube account dedicated to dance covers for anime songs. The developer never really knew whether to laugh or cry whenever she’d see that people were  _ still _ watching her videos after all these years.)

 

But then again, enrolling for a dance class with Seulgi just so happening to be the instructor wasn’t her idea either. 

* * *

 

When the class was finally progressing, Seulgi had grouped her students into smaller groups based on how well they picked up the dance so far, and had asked them to perform without her guiding them. She did it this way so that those who didn’t understand it as well or who had a hard time doing the moves could catch up with each other, and those who understood well could go at a faster pace. Although, if there were any more questions, Seulgi was happy to help out. She just needed to see their progress, after all.

 

Seulgi glanced at her new students. Seungwan was grouped with some of the slower students, since Seulgi noticed that this truly seemed to be her first time dancing. Bogum was in the middle, as he seemed to have some experience and a good sense of rhythm to boot. Finally, Irene was surprisingly with her more advanced students, and the bear-like girl didn’t doubt that their group just needed a bit more practice before she’d suggest they’d move to the more advanced classes.

 

It was during their performance that Seulgi realized that Irene wasn’t all that perfect. Irene’s moves were well executed, but she lacked the expression and presence to make herself stand out. The bear-like girl quickly realized that it could’ve stemmed from her shyness, but that could easily be changed if, perhaps, she was told to act like her other persona, Ahreum. But she seemed to be too shy to do so at the moment. From the corner of Seulgi’s eye, she could see Bogum, Seungwan, and Seungwan’s newfound friend, Eunji, talking animatedly amongst themselves.

* * *

 

“She could dance?!” Seungwan whisper yelled near Bogum’s ear, much to his chagrin.

 

“I didn’t know she could! Yeri didn’t either!” Bogum shot back, harshly nudging Wannie’s shoulder with his own.

 

“Why didn’t you ask Jisoo?!” Seungwan didn’t let up, shoving the producer back with much more force that had almost caused him to trip.

 

“I don’t get how both of you couldn’t have noticed.. She seems to have a lot of experience under her belt,” Eunji pointed out, watching Irene’s movements flow easily with the music.

 

“You’re her childhood friend, you should’ve known this!”

 

“You’re her  _ best _ friend,  _ you _ should have known this!”

 

The two said at the same time as Eunji shook her head.

 

“Well  whatever the reason is, have you noticed that sunbae has been looking at Irene-ssi quite a lot? I mean she’s pretty, but I haven’t seen her quite like this...” She pondered, watching the pair with interest.

 

“This is subtle, you should’ve seen her at the cafe. I heard she knelt down before Irene when they first met because she thought she was a literal goddess,” Bogum said and Seungwan almost let out an inappropriately loud chuckle.

 

“No way!” Eunji’s eyes sparkled with amusement.

 

“Yeah, we weren’t around but…” Wannie continued the conversation, and it went on until the final group had finished performing. They had spoken so loudly that Irene had thrown a towel at her closest friends as soon as she finished.

* * *

 

When the class ended, Seulgi immediately held Irene back and let the rest of the students go, earning a few raised brows. The dance instructor could care less as she wanted to know what was going on. Even if Joy did give her some useful advice, it didn’t mean that Irene suddenly giving her the cold shoulder didn’t bother her at all. 

 

“Irene…” Seulgi tried to approach the developer and held onto her forearm gently. Irene’s cheeks were a faint shade of red, and she was looking directly at the floor. She didn’t seem to reject her touch, however.

 

“Don’t talk. Give me 9 more hours, please… I’ll- I’ll show you by then,” Irene said shyly, moving her gaze a bit higher to meet Seulgi’s gaze.

 

“Unnie, what—” The bear-like girl was cut off before she could even ask.

 

“Give me nine hours, please. I promise talk to you, and I’m really sorry for leaving you in the dark. But I promise I’ll tell you soon, trust me on this, please..” The older of the two pleaded.

 

How could Seulgi even say no to that? 

 

“...Okay,” Seulgi relented, even though she really wanted to know what was going on.

 

“Thank you, Seulgi,” Irene moved to squeeze Seulgi’s hands with her own before quickly leaving the studio.

 

There were so many questions in Seulgi’s mind after that, and she didn’t even know where to begin as she sat down on the ground. 

 

She checked the wall clock.

 

8:00PM.

 

* * *

8:00 PM. 

 

Her watch read.

 

She had nine more hours to go, and many things to tweak. The beta Irene had shown to both Bogum and Seungwan still had some issues, and even though she was developing a relatively simple VR game, she wanted it to be perfect. It was always in her nature to be a perfectionist, but the developer felt that this had to be the best.

 

“What’s gotten you into such a rush, Ahreum-ssi?” A teasing tone flitted through the empty locker room. Irene jumped and swiftly turned around.

 

“Joy, please don’t scare me like that—”

 

“Yeah? Then at least give me a warning so I know what to do. Seulgi looked absolutely broken, you jerk,” Joy snapped, walking into Irene’s personal space.

 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cut of all forms of communication… I just got carried away,” Irene said in a soft tone, knowing that there wasn’t any excuse for her actions.

 

“I know, your friends told me when they found me and ran off. Geez, you know you don’t have to go through all that effort. Pretty sure that dumb bear was about to ask you out the moment you walked into the cafe or something,” The taller woman crossed her arms, but took a step back. Irene didn’t know what to think of the information she had just received.

 

“I-I know. I don’t think I’m that dense, but I wanted it to be special for her, a-and I’m the older one too, so I should be the one taking more initiative…” Irene confessed. “I don’t know, I’ve never felt so strongly for someone before…” She trailed off, not knowing how to end her statement.

 

“Well, just don’t worry about it too much. You look like you’ve aged five years just making whatever it is you’re doing,” Joy waved her hand dismissively. As if she could care less about the situation. If her algorithm was similar to Yeri’s based on their personalities alone, then Irene assumed that she did care. 

 

But first thing’s first.

 

“I’m not  _ that _ old,” Irene involuntarily pouted.

 

“Sure, whatever makes you sleep at night,” Joy teased.

 

“...” Irene had succumbed to silence, not knowing how to respond to that.

 

“Take care of Seulgi, okay?” Joy started instead and sighed, knowing that they wouldn’t get anywhere if she let the silence continue.

 

“Of course, I’ll do my best. If I’m not doing something right just tell me, I know I’m a bit…”

 

“Insensitive and cold as fuck?” Joy filled in, knowing it was a bit mean, but knew that the smaller woman deserved to at least feel a bit bad with what she did. Irene could only frown.

 

“Dense…” She soldiered on with a small voice. “On another note,” Irene had suddenly began and walked forward when Joy thought she’d wallow in her own guilt.

 

“Hm?” Joy hummed, raising a brow.   
  
“If you  _ ever _ even attempt to play with Yerim’s heart, I will delete you,” Irene was far from her height by any means, as they were practically David and Goliath, but her ice cold stare made her feel smaller in comparison, and left her rooted on the spot.

 

“Y-yeah, don’t worry about that unnie!” Joy managed to say with mock-enthusiasm with a sudden fear eating at her gut before Irene went her merry way.

 

Joy didn’t know if Irene was actually strong enough to face her in a physical fight, but now she would rather not know. 

 

* * *

11:30 AM

 

The rest of the day had been a blur to Seulgi, even when Moonbyul’s entire team (minus Irene, of course) hung around the cafe during their lunch break. Seulgi did her best to stay in a good mood, remembering her best friend’s words. Sure, she could have a world without Irene, but she was the one who made things feel a little bit better, even if she didn’t say or do much. Just seeing her seemed to be enough, it seemed.

 

Everyone was talking animatedly with each other, as Seulgi watched over the counter with Joy immediately plopping beside Yeri, but was mysteriously stiff around her as the taller woman seemed to be looking around frantically.

 

Seulgi got back to work, as it wasn’t her break yet, and continued to make some more coffee.

 

* * *

  
  


“Okay so, the game plan is set,” Yeri piped up, her eyes filled with determination as she desperately sipped on her expresso. Her eye bags were about to rival that of a panda’s with her current workload, but she couldn’t care less at the moment as she was seated beside her officemates and Joy.

 

“For once, your plan doesn’t even involve anything relatively satanic. That’s what I call quality character development,” Bogum applauded alone while Yeri rolled her eyes.

 

“We’re breaking into Irene’s home, installing cameras around the house  _ just _ so we can see how Irene’s gonna ask Seulgi out. What, pray tell,  _ exactly _ do you mean by nothing _ relatively satanic?! _ That’s an invasion of privacy!” Seungwan practically screamed, and if it weren’t for Joy shoving a croissant down her throat at the last sentence, Seulgi would’ve probably heard the boisterous woman. 

 

“It’s not an invasion of privacy if I welcome you all in. It’s my home too, you know,” A new voice chimed in.

 

“Right on time, Jisoo,” Moonbyul said and shared a mischievous grin with the preppy girl. “See, Wannie, there’s nothing to worry about,” The team leader said proudly.

 

“Ugh, fine. But if Irene finds out and kills us all it’s your fault for letting us in,” Seungwan pointed to Jisoo, who feigned a hurt expression.

 

“It can’t be my fault if Yerim was the one who wanted to spy on them! I simply agreed to the plan!” Jisoo exclaimed as she sat down on the empty seat beside Moonbyul.

 

“We’ll all still die by her hands in the end, so does it really matter whose fault it is?” Marshmell piped up after struggling to drink her hot chocolate.

 

“Fair point, fair point,” Bogum nodded at that. “Anyway, we should get to installing the cameras right about now, don’t you guys think?” He continued. 

 

“Yeah, I’m here to help with that. But I still don’t get why we’re spying on them when they just want to go out?” Gaebal finally spoke up from his silence. Seungwan shook her head, he was even worse than Irene.

 

“Yeah, why are you guys so excited for this anyway?” Joy finally decided to join the conversation after stealing almost half of Yeri’s BLT. Well, technically it was her sandwhich since she had made it for Yeri.

 

“Becaaausee,” Marshmell drawled, “Based on your info and our info, they’ve never had a romantic relationship before, well, this,” The senior artist gestured wildly, her hot chocolate threatening to spill over. “Imagine all the fanfics!” Marshmell practically drooled as if she was a character straight out of an anime.

 

“Yamete~~!” Bogum played along, bursting into a fit of laughter along with Yeri, Marshmell, Joy, and Moonbyul, while Seungwan threw her baguette to his face as if it were a spear. Jisoo only shook her head in disappointment while Gaebal understood nothing.

 

“You guys are disgusting!” Wannie yelled, scandalized.

 

“Who cares, free bread!” The producer said happily as he abruptly stood up, holding the bread like a sword. “Let us go onwards into the dragon’s lair! Gaebal and I will be the frontliners to make sure the path is clear!” Bogum bellowed, much to a certain cafe owner’s chagrin.

 

“STOP YELLING IN MY CAFE!” Solar screamed, appearing behind the group from out of nowhere. Out of shock, Yeri had dropped her opened puse, revealing a bunch of breadsticks that rolled to the ground.

 

“Holy shit!” Marshmell exclaimed, upon seeing the breadsticks.

 

“My breadsticks!” Yeri screamed.

 

“5 second rule, hurry!” Jisoo stupidly suggested, and then bursted into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

 

“But you’re also--” Bogum tried to argue with the power of his baguette at the same time.   
  


“Don’t argue with her--” Moonbyul tried to stop him from saying anything else before the worst happened.

 

“GET OUUUUT!” Solar screeched, grabbing what was once Seungwan’s baguette, that had became Bogum’s and used it to point at the exit. 

 

The regulars of the cafe were no longer surprised at this point. The newcomers, Joy was sure, had either spat or choked on their beverages. The team scurried away, with Jisoo’s laughter still ringing in the air, and that left Joy alone to go back to work. 

 

As if on cue, an angelic bear-like girl had emerged from the kitchen, with a small mess of coffee on her apron.

 

“What did I miss?” The curious bear asked with her head tilted cutely. Solar dropped the baguette and smiled sweetly as she approached her child.

 

“Nothing dear, just some rowdy customers. Just keep working hard! Fighting!” Solar said with too much enthusiasm for it to even look relatively normal, and Joy sniggered at that.

 

“Ookay then…” Seulgi still having no idea with what had just happened, had simply turned around and returned to the kitchen.

 

* * *

4:00 PM

 

There was one hour left. Seulgi barely realized it until Joy had suddenly handed her a card.

 

“Go, and don’t come back until you’ve talked properly. Oh, and get her something nice!” Her best friend said as she shoved her out the cafe’s door. 

 

Seulgi could see Solar waving at her from the glass, and from the loudness of her voice she guessed that her fake mother was saying something along the lines of what Joy had just said, but in a nicer way. Holding the card tightly in her hand, Seulgi quickly went back home to get a better change of clothes and a gift she’d bought, but never had the opportunity to give previously, before heading off to the only thing written on the card: an address.

 

* * *

4:50 PM

 

Irene caught wind of her friends’ scheme before they were even able to do it. 

 

Which was why she had been tirelessly been moving her VR setup to and fro from the office and her home, seeing which location they’d think she’d use for it.

 

Of course they’d assume that she’d be in the comfort of her own home, but her home wasn’t just hers. It was Jisoo’s as well, and well, when you have an obnoxious sister like Jisoo, and a satanic cousin like Yeri,  it wasn’t hard to become the world’s greatest sleuth after that. 

 

Right now, she was anxiously waiting for Seulgi’s arrival, holding onto the VR controllers tightly. Her code should work right. She debugged it properly, and she’s played (cringed over) it over and over again. She had doubted herself, but Bogum, Seungwan, Yeri and even Moonbyul watched over her development, encouraging her to go with her idea. 

 

Bogum made sure she scheduled her milestones correctly without overworking herself, Seungwan went over her game’s mechanics, Yeri provided her with some assets when she needed them, as well as playtested the game despite wanting to vomit, and Moonbyul proofread her scripts. Even her sister was by her side, making sure she was actually still alive after cramming what should be a three and a half week project to around two weeks and a few days along with her normal work schedule. 

 

Her friends were obnoxious most of the time, but she was also thankful that they were also as obnoxious when it came to fussing about her when she needed it as well.

 

Her anxiety was practically a sine wave as she paced around the office, waiting for a certain bear-like girl to show up. Irene had also made sure to make sure that all of the security systems were down, lest Bogum decides to spy on them using that since the producer had full access to it.

 

Irene almost jumped when she heard the distinct sound of the elevator dinging, signalling her to get into place as she hid by one of the office’s cubicles. The developer just hoped that Seulgi would understand the signs she had placed before the headset. The small woman peaked over the cubicle, hoping that she wouldn’t be spotted as Seulgi investigated the gadget.

 

After a while of reading and fumbling, Irene had a small smile on her face, proud that the bear-like girl managed to put it on without her assistance. Based on previous experience, Seulgi was quite the klutz, and she was slightly technologically challenged to boot… Though, that was also the main reason why Irene decided to make a little interactive game for her. Irene wanted Seulgi to see the world through her eyes, since the developer knew she was an idiot who couldn’t say a word when an angel came along, and looked at her like she wanted to take her to heaven with her.

 

While Irene might’ve been a goddess in her eyes, Joohyun isn’t one. And she will never be.

 

The computer monitor in front of the developer whirred to life, displaying a live feed of what Seulgi was doing in the game.

 

Irene watched anxiously, waiting for her to reach the end.

 

* * *

5:05 PM

 

When Seulgi put on the headset, she didn’t know what to expect.

 

What she didn’t expect was Irene in all of her beautiful goddess-like glory, greeting her virtually when she pressed play.

 

“Hello, Seulgi,” The goddess started, evidently a bit nervous. Seulgi found it endearing that she was just wearing her usual hoodie and ponytail combo. “I’m sorry for not being courageous nore coherent enough in front of you to talk to you directly and everything, but this…. game, if you can even call it that, is the reason why I’ve been… away. Sorry, I’m just really bad at anything that has to do with… this,” She simply said. 

 

Seulgi nodded, a little late as she realized that she wasn’t actually interacting with the real Irene. It took a bit of time to register as well that Irene, the goddess, had made a  _ game _ of all things, just for her.

 

The bear-like girl’s heart soared, but she felt a little guilty for being so impatient. She should have trusted Irene more, but she didn’t know either so...

 

Irene started to speak once more, waking Seulgi out of her reverie. “I won’t keep you for too long, I hope,” A pause. “I just… wanted you to see the world in my eyes, if that would be okay with you?” She asked, with a little hesitation and nervousness in her tone. If this game wasn’t made for her, Seulgi would’ve thought that her acting was phenomenal.

 

But she wasn’t acting, and this was all coming from the shy girl who had a hard time expressing herself, but was trying her damndest to.

  
Seulgi didn’t think she could fall even further. But here she was, falling.

 

With the controller she accepted, and off Seulgi went, transported into another world.

 

When the scene loaded, Seulgi found herself in a cafe.

 

_ Hold on. _ She thought.  _ This isn’t just any cafe… _

 

The bear-like girl quickly realized it was the cafe she worked at, Sunny Side. What was she doing here?

 

An ambient-like voice reverberated across the room, and began to narrate.

 

“When I first saw you, I thought you were an angel.”

 

All of a sudden, Seulgi found a virtual version of herself walking across the cafe, staring into her position. The bear-like girl remembered that day too, when she first saw Irene. Seulgi chuckled, it was embarrassing, really, that as soon as she smiled, she crashed into a table like the klutz she was.

 

“When you approached me, I didn’t think you were real. You didn’t seem to think I was real, either. At least we were even on that aspect, it’s just, I suck at words, and you just had to introduce yourself like that. What’s a girl supposed to do?” The virtual Seulgi, Moonbyul and Solar played out their first meeting  in silence as Irene narrated.

 

Seulgi giggled, well, this was certainly a very different Irene that she was experiencing. This Irene seemed more carefree, more honest and less shy, but she also wasn’t super confident and sure of herself like Ahreum. It seemed like an inbetween of her.

 

“So of course I kind of just lett like that because my mind couldn’t process why a cute girl thought I was beautiful… And then you know, that day turned into a week and well…” Multiple flashbacks played on, it was each and every time Seulgi  brought either food or drinks to Irene’s table as she watched the developer struggle. 

 

Suddenly, the flashbacks halted, and Seulgi found herself in front of Irene’s laptop. The scene shifted Seulgi’s gaze towards her virtual self who was hard at work, abandoning those strange red lines all over Irene’s laptop screen.

 

“Let’s just say I ended up being… very fond of you. It’s a little embarrassing, but when I’m tired I just watch you work and see how diligent you are. Even when you’re tired you still smile at everyone, and that’s when I decided that I can’t give up over a few bugs when you look ready to collapse yet you still make it a point to check up on me just to bring me something to eat.” Irene narrated as your virtual self approached your spot and handed a carrot cake and a vanilla latte, complete with the adorable bunny latte art.

 

Seulgi bit her lip. The bear-like girl knew she cried easily, and just the fact that Irene remembered everything even from the minute details of the bunny’s ears and cheeks always being a little lopsided because Seulgi always struggled with symmetry in her latte art made her want to bawl her eyes out. Irene remembered all of that even when Seulgi stopped serving her coffee when Jisoo told her that her sister absolutely hated coffee of any kind. 

 

“I really appreciated it when you stopped serving me lattes when you discovered that I hated it, but I also missed watching how your latte bunnies improved over the span of a few days,” Irene giggled, and the scene had suddenly changed.

 

“But I think I really started to fall for you when you came to visit me,” Seulgi was now in the office, taking Irene’s position by the half-built computer, when her virtual self came stumbling in with a paper bag of food. 

 

“I could tell that you weren’t necessarily interested on all of my ramblings on computers and stuff, but you chose to encourage and listen to me regardless, even if you didn’t understand me. You even offered to help build the computer, even if you knew you were gonna be bad at it… Most people would’ve just cut me off, or tell me to just talk about something more interesting if they weren’t into it too. I don’t think you understand how much that meant to me, Seulgi,” Irene said solemnly. 

 

The scene now showed Seulgi’s virtual self attempting to stick one of the computer parts into the case, failing miserably but smiling anyway. 

 

“I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical of you at first. There have been people who act all nice and flirty around me for… other intentions. Most people only like me for my face, not so much for me as a whole, so when you kept shooting those greasy lines left and right, I wanted to know if you were just going to be like the others. Deep down, I knew you were different, but I’m not one who goes with my gut feeling. I’m a programmer, I’m tuned to keep verifying algorithms,” 

 

The scene reenacted their time together at the office, and Seulgi clenched her fists at some of Irene’s words. The bear-like girl made it her mission to find whoever these people she talked about were, and give them a nice punch to the face. Before Seulgi could drown in her own anger, however, the scene changed once more.

 

“But that view changed when you were genuinely concerned for Jisoo when she called, and you quickly helped me get back home,”

 

Seulgi vividly remembered that time, because even she couldn’t sit still at the prospect of anyone being in such an emergency. All the bear-like girl could think about after receiving a kiss on the cheek from Irene was whether her sister was going to be okay or not.

 

“Not only that, but when I tried to flirt as Ahreum because I knew my shy self wouldn’t get me anywhere, you outright refused me, saying that you had eyes for someone else. Although, I have to apologize again, I kissed you without even thinking about the consequences, and then ran away from you, I’m sorry,” 

 

Seulgi was taken aback by how closely the animations followed real life. The bear-like girl couldn’t help but feel Seulgi was thankful that the virtual Seulgi no longer imitated the scene where they… kissed, for the bear-like girl wouldn’t know how to react to that.

 

“With all that said, I know we've gone a bit too fast, but I want to let you know that I really, truly think you’re one of the most beautiful people I’ve met, Seulgi. Both inside and out… Even though I don’t usually appear traditional about most things, there are a few exceptions since I’m definitely the older one out of the both of us, and I’ve definitely been doing a bad job of taking responsibility so…” Irene’s nervousness could be heard, even if it was just a recording.

 

Seulgi’s heart pounded against her chest, waiting for Irene to speak.

 

“Please allow me to court you properly?” That voice didn’t sound like it came from a recording… It seemed to real, too distant…

 

Two buttons came up on screen, and Seulgi didn’t even have to think twice when she pressed yes.

 

Warmth enveloped Seulgi’s senses as she felt someone come closer. Immediately the bear-like girl took of the headset carefully and set it aside, returning Irene’s embrace.

 

“It’s Joohyun, by the way,” Irene whispered into Seulgi’s chest. With their closeness, Irene could hear her heart hammering as fast as her own.

 

“Joohyun?” The bear like girl tilted her head to match Irene’s gaze.

 

“My real name,” She said simply. Seulgi couldn’t help but grin like an idiot with the information she had just received.

 

“I’m Yours. It’s nice to meet you, Joohyun. ” Seulgi said in the same soft tone and smiled widely at Joohyun, who giggled in reply as she hugged the bear-like girl even tighter.

 

“It’s nice to meet you, mine,” The developer said as her eyes twinkled.

 

“Pfft, we’re being way too cheesy,” Seulgi commented, causing the couple to giggle. “But thank you, Joohyun. No one’s ever done something like this for me before. I’m the one who usually--” Seulgi was interrupted by the smaller woman.

 

“I know… Joy and Solar may or may not have spammed my inbox with things about you. I-I didn’t look at everything, though! I wanted to learn the rest myself...” Joohyun briefly looked away at her admission.

 

“Wait, what?!” Seulgi was more shocked than anything, scared of what Joy and Solar might’ve sent.

 

“Don’t worry, they didn’t send anything that could be embarrassing, I think..” A pause. “So what do you wanna do now? Everyone tried to spy on us with the security cameras here, but I caught on and made sure that we’d be in the blind spot,” 

 

“Everyone?” Seulgi asked softly.

 

“Yeah..”

 

“Well, then I guess I better introduce everyone to my new girlfriend then!” The bear-like girl suddenly let go of their embrace, sprinting towards the nearest camera.

 

“H-hey, wait!” Panicked, Joohyun chased after her.

 

“HEY GUYS! I HAVE A GIRLFRIEND NOW!” A happy bear yelled, not caring if people on the other floors could hear them.

 

“Seul! Wait, argh-- let me court you first!” Joohyun ended up shouting, much to her own embarrassment and to Seulgi’s joy.

 

“You know I’d say yes anyway, and you didn’t even ask if  _ I  _ wanted to court you too,” The taller of the two stopped running abruptly, whirled around and pouted, causing Joohyun to crash into Seulgi’s chest.

 

Seulgi chuckled, holding her steady.

 

“I’m the older one--” Joohyun mumbled, practically whining into the fabric of Seulgi’s shirt. The bear-like girl wasn’t sure if she was going to survive any more of Joohyun’s cuteness.

 

“Doesn’t matter, we’ll be out courting each other now,” Seulgi used a finger to lift Joohyun’s chin. 

 

“Seulgi,” The smaller woman mumbled, causing the bear-like girl’s eyes to break into the purest eye smile.

 

“Yes Joohyun?” Seulgi asked, leaning forward to kiss Joohyun’s nose.

 

Joohyun balled the fabric of her hoodie’s sleeves with her hands, face quickly reddening as she struggled to speak.

 

“I-I won’t lose to you…”

 

“We’ll see about that. I got you a new mouse, the new model you kept talking about before, and some carrot cake for you,” Seulgi bosted, playfully puffing her chest and resting her hands on her hips. Joohyun retaliated by rolling her eyes playfully.

 

“I made you a game in under a month, Seulgi,” She said simply, crossing her arms.

 

Defeated, the bear-like girl’s form deflated but her smile never wavered.

 

“Okay fine, you win this round.” 

 

* * *

 

While Irene and Seulgi enjoyed each other’s presence, Jisoo and Irene’s place had become a mess with the rest of the crew yelling at each other.

 

Jisoo had many regrets for allowing them in, and she was sure Joohyun would kill for for the mess they made.

 

“I can’t believe Irene outsmarted us again,” Yeri pouted, evidently annoyed as Joy patted her head comfortingly.

 

“I can’t see shit from this angle dammit. We need to add more cameras, now!” Bogum complained.

 

“DID YOU HEAR THAT THOUGH?! FANFIC CONTENT IS COMING! FLUFF, SMUT, ANGST, WE’VE GOT IT ALL FOR YOU! JUST YOU WAIT! ” Marsmhell yelled as she threw chips into the air. 

 

“Ugh, who cares Seulgi, we knew that already! What I want to know if its Seulrene or Reneseul!” Yeri complained as the audio picked up Seulgi announcing that she now had a girlfriend.

 

“Everyone knows its Reneseul as soon as Irene pulled Seulgi away from Sunmi  _ and  _ kissed her in front of an audience,” Marshmell twirled and pointed an accusing pencil at the younger artist.

 

“Was Irene the one who said to call me yours when they just met? I don’t think so,” Yeri shot back.

 

“I’m just surprised none of them collapsed this time. The useless lesbians are finally functioning, for once,” Jisoo shrugged, giving her two cents as she ended up trashing her own house by spilling her frappe all over the couch. She was going to die anyway, she better make the most out of it.

 

“Who cares, I told you my greasy moves could get her somewhere,” Moonbyul crossed her arms, proud of her own daughter.

 

“You know it was technically, Irene--” Joy was about to start.

 

“I don’t want to hear it!” The team leader cut her off in record time, tripping over nothing in the process.

 

“Why do I have to deal with these children?” Seungwan sighed loudly, trying her best to keep the place in tact as she tiptoed over a fallen Moonbyul.

 

“You poor single mother of ten,” Bogum singsonged from the lazyboy he sat upon, treating the rocking chair like a throne.

 

“But we’re less than te--” Gaebal attempted to counter after counting everyone inside the house.

 

“Shh, acceptance is the first step,” Bogum said tapping the poor boy’s head.

 

“...Okay.”

 

Irene was probably (definitely) going to kill them all later, but for now, everyone was content that the pair of useless lesbians were finally together.

 

…

..

.

 

“Guys, who spilled coffee over Irene’s favorite blanket?”

 

“Oh, shit,”

 

“WHY DOESN’T REAL LIFE HAVE A CONTROL Z??”

 

“Can’t really debug that, bye!”

 

...They just hoped an adorable bear would stop her from committing actual murder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay its donee, and im so done, and I'm so sorry it came so late. To compensate, I made the final chapter a lot longer but too much ideas smazhed into each other and now you have a mess that we're just going to call a plot for now lmao. Regardless I write to improve, so I'm glad I was even able to commit to writing this hahaha. Anyway, thanks for reading!


	8. Seulrene.wav [Bonus Epilogue (1/2)]

After being together for half a year, Irene had decided to move into Seulgi’s place. Though if she were to be honest, it was more of Jisoo and Jennie’s PDA in her home becoming increasingly disgusting rather than cute. It was as if Jisoo was trying to kick her out.

 

Irene’s sure that that was the case, but she wasn’t complaining.

 

Not when she’s seated in the most comfortable seat in the world, as she continuously destroyed everyone on the battlefield. Her most comfortable seat moved to adjust the ear cups of her headphones.

 

“Hm?” Irene hummed, briefly glancing at Seulgi. If it were anyone else, Irene’s sure that she’d have deleted them by now for bothering her. But Seulgi was always an exception, breaking past her walls like it was nothing.

 

“Nice shot, Hyun-ah,” Seulgi whispered in Irene’s ear, giving her a light kiss on the cheek and returned the ear cup to its original position. Irene smiled contentedly, and snuggled further in her girlfriend’s embrace as she effortlessly assassinated an unfortunate soul from behind. Irene wouldn’t be bothered, if her days went on loop like this forever.

 

Forever sounded nice for once, Irene mused as she remembered all of the infinite loops that she had inadvertently created in her past projects, causing the destruction of her code.

“WHAT THE HELL?! UNNIE, HOW DARE YOU--” A scream rang from the pair of headphones, breaking Irene from her reverie. On the other hand, Seulgi winced at the volume, able to hear Yeri crystal clear despite the sound coming from Irene’s headphones. 

 

“Radars, Yerimie, radars,” Irene calmly said, earning a loud huff of disapproval.

 

“Lmao git gud skrub,” Bogum spoke up proudly. Irene rolled her eyes.

 

“Don’t act like you didn’t die first, feeder,” Wannie retorted quickly, causing the latter to whine.

 

“Y’know, ever since Irene’s been dating Seulgi, I haven’t heard you yell or scream in game at all,” Bogum changed the topic.

 

“Hey, don’t make this about me,” Irene said quickly. “Defend mid!” She added.

 

“On it,” Marshmell piped up and pinged, indicating her character’s route.

 

“But really, what’s got you so quiet?” Bogum continued the earlier conversation, “Oh, maybe it’s because someone else’s got you screamin’” Irene was thankful that the game didn’t have video chat, or else all her teammates would how fast her face had reddened. Unbeknownst to the gamer, Seulgi had heard it as well, but was completely oblivious as she watched her girlfriend.

 

“Pshhhhh,” Moonbyul’s voice rang loudly, and with a ton of static. “Please, Seulgi is too innocent to be doing  _ anything _ to Irene,” The team leader said. “R please Wannie, we’re gonna lose because Bogum the bogus doesn’t know how to  _ fucking  _ aim,” Moonbyul said in frustration, and the loud clacking of the keys could be picked up by her mic.

 

“I’m sorry!” Bogum whined as his character had died for the seventh time. “How was I supposed to know this build didn’t work?” The whole team ignored his obnoxious excuses.

 

“Y’know I’m still here, right? I can literally hear all your team’s plans,” Yerim interjected.

 

“It’s not like we have a plan anyway,” Wannie replied, and was about to say more until Moonbyul suddenly continued the previous conversation.

 

“What I’m worried about is what you’re doing to  _ my child _ , Irene,” Moonbyul decided to add. Irene was getting redder by the second, her concentration waning as she shifted uncomfortably on her girlfriend who seemed to have finally gotten the implications of their words.

 

“I swear, if I see--” Moonbyul was about to continue until Irene cut her off.

 

“I’m close, ult’s ready in a bit so keep holding on,” Irene clicked rapidly towards her targets, ignoring the chorus of laughter in the voice chat. The whole chat had become silent, playing in concentration until Irene had arrived to the mid lane. Seulgi pouted cutely at what she’d heard and moved to wrap her arms around Irene’s waist. The latter didn’t seem to notice, too caught up in her game.

 

“Marshmell, stun Yerim now!” Irene commanded and launched her character into the fray, effortlessly hitting all of her targets continuously and accurately. Her childish character teleported back and forth as the enemies’ health had depleted. Seulgi held back for a while, watching the game as Irene played.

 

“WHY AM I ALWAYS THE FIRST TARGET?!” Yeri complained, and was ignored by everyone.

 

“Ugh, you’re all just scared of my potential, of  _ course _ you had to get me first,” The young artist mumbled to herself as she watched the battle. It was too late for her to get back anyway, if Irene’s team were to succeed killing the rest of her teammates, it’d be the end of the game. The developer knew this as well, and pressed on.

 

“Byul unnie, shield Irene!” Seungwan screamed as her character died, giving her last healing spell to Moonbyul’s character.

 

“Kill ‘em all!” Moonbyul’s burly character charged recklessly into battle with his giant shield, successfully protecting Irene as she threw attacks left and right.

 

_ PENTAKILL! _ The game rang.

 

“Niiceee, now let’s get the tower,” Moonbyul said, relaxed as the team moved onwards. Wannie’s character, now revived, strode over to Irene’s, healing her character.

 

“Whaaat, but it’s too soon to end now,” Bogum whined like a child as he spun his character around in circles.

 

“Give them a chance to respawn and we’ll lose, dumb dumb,” Marshmell said, and the two started to bicker.

 

“I’ll stay back for a bit, you guys just destroy the tower,” Irene said as she ignored Bogum and Marshmell’s antics. When she received an affirmative from her team members, Irene sighed, taking her headphones off. She stretched her limbs out, and almost automatically Seulgi moved to massage her girlfriend’s shoulders, earning a content hum from Irene.

 

Seulgi’s hands continued working their magic, moving down to massage Irene’s back firmly.

 

The game displayed that Irene’s team had won. None of the two seemed to care.

 

“Ahh, Seulgi-ah,” Irene drawled out, forgetting to mute her mic.

 

At that, Bogum and Marshmell had stopped bickering. The whole chatroom was silent.

 

“Um…” Wannie started.

 

“Aah!” The mic had picked up a voice that was unmistakably Irene’s.

 

“What was…” Bogum froze when Irene’s mic picked up more sounds.

 

“Hey, i-if you keep doing that-- ah!” Irene’s voice was muffled.

 

“They keep treating me like a kid... Like I don’t know these things,” A clearer voice rang.

 

“Seul, wait--”

 

“I  _ can _ make you scream, unnie.”

 

Everyone in the chatroom was silent as a piercing scream resounded.

 

“I… am traumatized,” Yeri bravely begun, and then cowardly disconnected from the chatroom. Bogum wheezed at their current predicament. Seungwan couldn’t tell if Bogum was about to laugh or cry.

 

“Huh... For all her dirty jokes, Yerim’s pretty innocent,” Marshmell commented.

 

“...Yeah,” Wannie replied awkwardly. The chatroom was silent, save for Bogum’s wheezing fading in the background.

 

The strange sounds continued, leaving a flustered Seungwan and Marshmell. Bogum seemed to have literally died. Moonbyul was strangely silent.

 

“So uh, what were you saying about Seulgi being innocent, Moonbyul unnie?” Marshmell piped up at a terrible time, completely missing the tension and awkwardness in the chatroom.

 

“My poor sweet summer child…”  Moonbyul began in a small voice. The line was silent.

 

“I blame Solar,” The team leader suddenly added, and disconnected. After what sounded to be a huff, Marshmell disconnected as well.

 

“...Guys?” Seungwan spoke. She received no reply. Wannie tried to disconnect, but for some reason couldn’t.

 

“Oh dear god no!” Wannie yelled.

 

“Yaah, Seulgi-ah! Hahah, stop!” Contradicting Irene’s words, the sounds did not stop.

 

Seungwan threw her headphones far, far away, promising herself to burn them after she recovers from the trauma.

 

However, that proved to be the wrong choice as those  _ sounds _ were now playing through her computer’s loud speakers at max volume.

 

Wannie didn’t know what she had done to deserve this punishment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hellooo, I wrote this because I really do enjoy writing for this AU but also i really needed to do something that wasn't work for once or else i'd go crazy HAHAHAh :') so don't expect me to complete this quickly as it was more of a spur of the moment thing as i really needed an escape, even for a bit hahah. other than that, I hope you guys enjoy this!


	9. Not Responding (Bonus Epilogue 2/2)

Irene woke up early.

 

A very rare occurrence in the life of a developer such as herself, but she supposed that it was for an important cause.

 

Or so she thought as coffee poured out of the espresso machine.

 

When Wheein had taught her a few weeks ago (with Joy laughing at her feeble attempts), it seemed so easy. When the puppy-like barista said she couldn’t make a bear because for some reason, she could only make latte art of various dog breeds, Irene had suggested she just make a fat Pomeranian. It’d look close enough, the developer supposed.

 

When she voiced these thoughts to Wheein, she practically exploded in happiness, hugging Irene to near death (Luckily Hwasa was not around, or else Irene would’ve probably be murdered no matter how much times she denied her feelings,) now that she could probably make more latte art animals as long as she imagined them to be dogs.

 

While that was great, now that she was on her own it seemed like mission impossible.

 

Well, understanding how the espresso machine worked wasn’t actually the problem…

 

It was the latte art. Frankly, she was a programmer for a reason.

 

 _Just a little more…_ Irene thought, sticking out her tongue as she tilted the mug, about to add in the steamed milk into the mix.

 

If Seulgi could make bunnies for her, then she could definitely make a bear for her girlfriend. Irene thought briefly as she steadied herself.

 

“Hyun-ah?”

 

Irene nearly died of a heart attack, almost dropping the mug she held in the process.

 

“Sorry, I thought my footsteps were loud enough,” Seulgi said apologetically as she moved to hug the developer from behind.

 

“What are you doing up so early? I thought I told you to leave breakfast to me since you’re always home so late…” Seulgi said gently, perching her head on the shorter girl’s neck.

 

“I wanted to do something for you,” Irene replied, her lips involuntarily forming into a pout. “But you woke up before I could finish.”

 

“Do you want me to close my eyes?” Seulgi asked. The developer wasn’t so sure if her girlfriend was teasing her, or was genuinely asking.

 

“You already saw the espresso machine,” Irene pouted.

 

“But it’s the thought that counts, Hyun-ah!” Seulgi nuzzled her face towards Irene’s, kissing her cheek before her brain realized something.

 

“Wait, did you borrow this from Solar unnie?” Irene was afraid that her girlfriend would ask.

 

The developer shook her head.

 

“Did you borrow it from another friend?”

 

Irene shook her head again.

 

“Hyuuun~” Seulgi whined, letting go of Irene and stepping back. “You didn’t have to buy one just to… Besides, you don’t even like coffee,” Seulgi admonished. As far as Seulgi knew, Irene even hated the smell of coffee. What made her think it was a good idea to have one in their home?

 

Unbeknownst to the bear-like girl, Irene had began to love the smell of coffee as time went by because it reminded her of Seulgi. It was also the reason why she'd grab Seulgi's hoodies and sweaters away from her. They were oversized, comfy, and most importantly, they were Seulgi's. The scent alone could calm her down or clear her mind when she faced problems while she programmed at work.

 

“But I wanted to... Ever since you had to leave the cafe to take a full position at the dance studio, you always wake up too early just to get coffee at Sunny Side before heading to the studio…” Irene explained herself as she recalled why she was up so early, and Seulgi let out a small smile. Her girlfriend was just so thoughtful and adorable and wow, sometimes Seulgi felt like she didn't deserve her at all.

 

“And I... wantmoretimetocuddle,” Irene had suddenly become a rapper as she mumbled out her last few words. Seulgi grinned.

 

“What was that?” She teased the small developer, already giving in to her wants as she embraced her girlfriend once more.

 

“I want more time t-to… cuddle,” Irene mumbled into Seulgi’s shirt.

 

"Hyun, you're already wearing my hoodie--"

 

"It's not the same," Irene practically whined, and Seulgi decided to stop teasing her cute girlfriend.

 

“Then we’ll cuddle. I can teach you how to do latte art--”

 

“No!” Seulgi was interrupted by the developer once more.

 

“No?” The dancer mimicked, quirking her eyebrow up.

 

“I-it’s for you, so I want to do it on my own…” Irene trailed off. Seulgi's heart soared, and the latter decided that she would definitely buy that expensive in game skin Irene's been raving about all week and a few other things for her girlfriend.

 

She deserved the world after all, Seulgi thought as she gazed at her girlfriend.

 

“Okay, but can we go back to bed first? I want more time to cuddle too,” Seulgi was already gently guiding her girlfriend back to the bedroom, the pair softly landing on the mattress when Irene finally replied.

 

“Okay.”

 

* * *

 

 

When the pair dropped by to visit the cafe later that day, Seungwan had almost shrieked upin their entry. Bogum cackled loudly at the game designer’s reaction until he realized what she was so freaked out about.

 

“What the hell’s wrong with you?” Joy asked as she raised a brow at the game designer, wondering why she looked so traumatized. “I’m banning you from any more espresso today,” The barista added before sauntering off to Yerim, assuming that her strange state had come from the coffee.

 

“Hi Wan-ah!” Seulgi greeted enthusiastically. Seungwan pretended to ignore her existence as she rocked back and forth.

 

“You should get more rest, Wannie,” Irene added, looking concerned at her best friend.

 

Upon hearing Irene’s voice, Seungwan yelled.

 

“MAKE IT STOP!”

 

Seungwan ran straight out of the cafe, screaming.

 

“What the--” Moonbyul had just entered the cafe, folding her sunglasses and tucking it into her button up when a screaming Seungwan almost crashed into her.

 

When the team leader turned her head and found Seulgi and Irene, her face turned serious.

 

“Kang Seulgi,” Moonbyul said flatly, “We need to talk.”

 

“Wait, what did I--” The bear-like girl was then dragged away from Irene, into the depths of the cafe as Moonbyul hurried her steps.

 

“...Why?” Irene simply asked, looking at Bogum and Yerim for an explanation. Joy hollered Irene over to sit opposite Bogum, and handed her a glass of water, knowing that the developer didn’t like coffee or tea to begin with.

 

The developer obeyed easily, and took a small sip of water. When she concluded that Joy (or Yeri) probably didn’t poison it, she had taken in a more generous amount into her mouth.

 

“Remember when you destroyed everyone last night?” Yeri asked, sounding much like an investigator on a mission.

 

Irene simply nodded, trying to analyze the situation. Yerim was up to something. When the developer looked to Bogum, he had a blank expression on his face. It was unnervingly blank, and Irene was starting to get nervous.

 

“I dunno if you did it on purpose, but I can prolly make a lot of money with this,” Yeri plucked a phone out of her pocket, showing the device to the perplexed developer as she recognized the phone to be Bogum’s. Slipping it back into her pocket, the young artist continued.

 

“You forgot to turn off your mic, by the way,” Yeri said disinterestedly, looking at her nails.

 

Irene spat the water she was drinking directly at Bogum’s face, waking the producer up from his catatonic state.

 

“WHAA-?!” He screeched, falling out of his chair. Joy snorted and high-fived a cackling Yeri.

 

When the artist turned to look at Irene, she was beet red.

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Irene said, elegantly dabbing her mouth with tissues, an obvious facade.

 

“Don’t like to me! We heard you and Seulgi!” Yeri practically yelled into the (thankfully _almost_ empty) cafe. At that moment, Moonbyul entered the cafe with Seulgi and.. Seungwan? in tow. Irene briefly wondered how that happened, but stopped pondering about it midway as she didn’t want to waste the rest of her energy on it. Power saving was important, after all.

 

“Seulgi wasn’t doing anything to Irene,” Moonbyul said blankly, as if she didn’t believe in her own words. Seungwan nodded, with her face just as blank.

 

“That’s what I’ve been telling you for the past--” Seulgi was interrupted by Yerim.

 

“Not you too!” Yeri threw her hands up. “Don’t buy that shit!” She slammed her fists back onto the table.

“No, not buying it!” Yeri relented and moved to yank Seulgi’s shirt collar.

 

“You made Irene scream, right?” Yeri grabbed Bogum’s phone with her free hand and pressed play.

 

 _‘I can make you scream, unnie.’_ Seulgi’s voice resounded from the device.

 

Seungwan shuddered, her trauma evident as Yeri let go of her hold on Seulgi.

 

Yeri immediately pressed pause after the recording went silent for a second. The youngest raised her brow, waiting for an answer.

 

“Oh that,” Seulgi said casually,

 

“Did you just want me to make her scream again? I can do that.”

 

The whole room fell into a stunned silence. Seulgi stood up, the chair creaking as it made contact with the floor. She stood behind Irene, smiling deviously.

 

“I can do that again, right here and right now.”

…

..

.

 

“Please don’t,” Bogum whimpered with all his might. Everyone else was rendered speechless.

 

“Seul, please don’t,” Irene begged, her face still flushed. Seulgi’s grin only grew wider.

 

Everyone held their breath when Seulgi planted a kiss to Irene’s forehead, her arms wrapped around the developer’s torso.

 

And then, she began.

 

“S-Seul!” Irene screamed.

 

Seulgi mercilessly tickled her girlfriend who was squealing and squirming in a poor attempt to get away.

 

Moonbyul smacked her head to the nearest wall.

 

Yeri threw Bogum’s phone far, far away, leaving the producer in a panic as Joy laughed at his suffering.

 

Wannie fainted.

 

* * *

 

 

“I TOLD YOU SEULGI’S INNOCENT!” Solar grinned triumphantly at the exhausted group as she turned the cafe’s sign to closed.

 

“You all owe my sweet summer child an apology!” The cafe owner continued, smiling as she handed everyone a cupcake to recover from the day’s events. Her wife had supplied her with the details when she had arrived earlier, and Solar found herself disappointed at everyone’s dirty minds.

 

“Yeah!” Seulgi piped up happily as she let Irene rest on her shoulder.

 

“What did you guys think we were doing anyway?” The sweet summer child asked. Irene shriveled silently at that, and decided that it was best to just shut down and sleep all her problems away.

 

“Oh, I almost forgot! I have a date tonight! See you guys later!” Bogum announced unnaturally as he left the cafe as quickly as possible.

 

“We’re off to summon a demon, don’t contact us, thanks!” Yeri practically shrieked as she dragged Joy along with her.

 

“It’s date night! Isn’t that right, babe?” Moonbyul said with too much enthusiasm as she latched onto Solar’s arm. The latter threw her keys towards Seulgi.

 

“Don’t forget to lock up, bye!” Solar said, and the two disappeared into the night.

 

Seungwan realized much too late that she was the only one left. She also somehow felt that Irene was definitely not asleep at all with how unnaturally she was positioned.

 

Seulgi, with her innocent eyes looked straight at Wannie, determined to get an answer.

 

“WHY IS IT ALWAYS ME!?” Seungwan screamed into the night, wondering what she had done to deserve any of this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and that completes the (mess) epilogue! (asdf;dsjk the ending was bad sorry lmao i tried ;-;) if i have new ideas for this AU, i might just add them here but for now this is done haha. Hope you guys enjoyed reading!


End file.
